The Forgotten Ones
by silhouette amongst stars
Summary: "Once upon a time, there was sun." A war is being waged on the Lost Continent, and a group of dragons find themselves caught in the crossfire. Watch them unravel the strings of misfortune and deceit that tie them together, and find that all they have forgotten may just come back to haunt them.
1. Prologue

A/N: So, this is my first fanfiction I've ever written. This'll be a new experience for me, If i'm being honest. Just note; I wrote this before I found out that the protagonist of the new book will be called Blue. I genuinely did not know that until I looked it up five minutes ago. Anyways, enjoy!

PS: I need OC's for the rest of the story. Preferably gay/homicidal ones. Please, do submit some. That would be much appreciated.

Prologue

"At that moment in time, I truly and sincerely believed that I'd had it."

A chorus of "Oh's" rose from the dragons seated around his bed. The night was pitch black, and the only thing illuminating the room they were in was a small oil lamp that guttered every now and then, leaving them in surprisingly appropriate darkness for the tale he was telling them.

"As I was saying," he continued, "I thought I was done for. Dead. Urk." He mimed slicing his neck off and tilted his head to the right exaggeratedly. A few giggles escaped from the younger dragonets. He smiled imwardly. That was exactly what he was going for.

"And then, out of nowhere, this- this THING came out of the darkness, and suddenly- "he paused for dramatic effect, "All my attackers fell to the ground." He looked around at the small crowd gathered in the small shops' front room. "They were all dead."

Nobody moved. The only noise came from the desert wind, rushing through the open window. Judging by the speed, they could expect a moderately large sandstorm tomorrow. No matter. He didn't plan to stick around for that long.

"Now, I'm not some 'Braveheart' kinda guy," he continued, making air quotes to emphasize his point, "and I was scared. I mean, REALLY freaked out, y'know?"

The crowd nodded their approval. They knew. Most of them had been alive during the War of Sandwing Succession; hell, many had been part of it. And even the younger ones remembered how Vulture had tried to take over the Sand Kingdom and kill Queen Thorn. It was only a week ago, after all. All of them knew fear. They knew their limits.

"So anyways. I think it over. DO I get out from under this bush and thank my saviour, or do I hide and hope he doesn't notice me? Remember, I don't know if this guy is on my side."

The crowd nodded. He could tell that he was testing their patience. They'd paid good money to see this show, and so far, all they'd gotten was an old croon regaling the story of how he'd been caught scouting across enemy lines. Not that that wasn't interesting, but the veterans in the crowd were clearly getting bored. He knew what he had to do.

"Well, the guy makes the decision for me- turns around, stomps towards the bush where I'm hiding and- guess what?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "It was a lass!" He laughed. "Can you believe it? A wee girl saved me!"

This was what he considered a genius move in his endgame. Act a bit misogynistic, so that the crowd would be more inclined to dislike him. He was already getting plenty of dirty looks. This way, nobody would really like him much, and wouldn't be too inclined to believe the story that the guy who would be here a week later had to tell.

"So anyways, she trots towards me all hoity-toity, and says-" He sat up straighter, deepened his voice, and acted haughtier; "'Do not worry, you are safe.' Then she flies off and leaves behind…." Slowly, he reached into his back pocket and brought out a blue scale. But not just any blue scale, the most vibrant, metallic, luminous, deep blue scale anybody in the room had ever seen.

"Take a good look, one and all. This is the only example of this type of scale you will find anywhere. Careful." He grinned. "It's sharp."

The scale was passed around the room. Attempts to scratch or bend it just led to aching talons and many injuries.

"Fantastic session." He said after everybody had laid hands on it. "But I'm afraid our time together has ended. Please, step outside."

All the dragons left in awe, amazed at the surprisingly authentic dragon scale. As the last stubborn dragonet was dragged out by its parents, he stood and locked the door. He then bolted the window shut and went into the back room.

There lay a dragon with scales of neon green, with a reading glass up against her eye.

"Oh, so you finally found one cheap, huh?" He said, settling down beside her.

"Yeah. The dragons in these markets even had a way of figuring out WHAT type of glass I needed to read clearly. It's amazing."

"Yeah." He flopped down beside her and nuzzled her flank. "So, how much did we earn today?"

"Enough."

"What does 'Enough' mean?"

"Enough to get us to that cool Nightwing settlement in the rainforest."

"So you heard about that place, huh?"

"Yeah. Two tribes being ruled by one leader? Sounds incredible."

"Sound like it wouldn't work."

"Well, it does, so shut your trap."

He nudged her playfully, and she giggled.

"This feels weird." She said after a while. "Get back in your actual body."

"As you please." He bowed mockingly, and then turned to the dragon in the other corner.

He was a magnificent specimen, with metallic scales of a deep blue. He was also comatose, and had a scar running across the right side of his face. One of the scales under his left eye was missing.

He closed his eyes, flexed his power, and suddenly;

He was looking at an old geezer of a Sandwing, who was now passed out on the floor.

"Will he be fine?" She asked.

"Yeah. He'll wake up in about five hours." He said, prying the scale from the Sandwings' hands and slotting it into place under his eye.

The other dragon scooted a bit to the right as he approached. He sat down beside her and folded his right wing over her, so as to draw her closer.

"So, what's gonna happen when he tells everybody that a dragon took over his body for the night?" She asked.

"Well, I've already acted as a prick to all the locals, and managed to offend all the ladies too, so chances are they'll just think he's gone cuckoo-bananas."

"That's not a good thing, Blue."

"Yes, it is. You've rooted around in his mind, haven't you?"

A pause. "Yes."

"You've seen what he went through in the war then."

Another, longer pause. "Yes."

"So don't you think it would be better if he went to a healing centre like the one we heard about in the Sky Kingdom?"

"Why don't you just come out and say-" she deepened her voice so as to imitate Blue- "You're a hypocrite, Green. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to stare at my ripped body in the mirror for another half-hour."

For a second, both of them just glared at each other. Then they simultaneously broke into laughter.

"Its called working out!" Blue protested between giggles.

"You don't work! You just gaze at your muscles as if you want to MAKE out with them!" She retorted.

He tackled her to the ground, and they rolled around for a while until both of them were exhausted.

"That was fun." Green wheezed.

"Yeah." Blue said. "We should do that more often."

"I would, but my leg is already hurting."

"Oh." Blue said, glancing at her leg, still quite crooked in its special brace. It had been deformed since she had been born 9 years ago. Unlike her, however, he had gotten his scar in the war they had escaped by coming here. "Shall I heat some water up?"

"Nah." She waved off his concern. "I'll be fine. Unlike old man Sandwing over here."

"Why do you say that?"

"Did you stop to consider what would happen if his family DIDN'T take him to a healing centre, and offed him instead?"

 _Oh damn._ His mind seemed to go. _Missed that one. Sorry._

Then he had an idea.

"Green, you _love_ me, right?" he said, drawing out the word 'love' as much as possible.

She looked up in surprise.

"Yeah, but, um- where are you going with this?"

"Would you do an itty-bitty favour for me?"

"What's the favour?" she asked, getting suspicious.

"Could you go into the mind of a neighbour or something and make them take him to a healing centre?"

"Already did it." She said, slowly picking herself off the ground.

"Wait, what?" He said, shocked. "When?"

"When you were asking me if I loved you." She replied. "It was a no brainer."

"Oh." He said, dejected. "I was just hoping that I would come up with an idea before you had already thought of it, y'know?"

Green suddenly came up next to him and grabbed his arm, forcing him off balance. He wobbled a bit, but otherwise stood still. "Relax." She said, looking into his eyes. "Who cares WHO comes up with all the good ideas? I don't!"

"Easy for you to say, when its YOU who comes up with all of them." He replied.

"C'mon! You contribute too! Remember how you suggested we save up so we can eventually go to Jade Mountain? That was a good idea"

"Hmm." He mumbled under his breath. He wasn't actually mad anymore. It was hard to be with Green around. "Yeah." He admitted.

"Tell ya what." Green grinned and drew close to his ear; "Why don't you come up with an idea for what we should do next?"

Blue twisted his head so that he could see her better. Her smile was so bright and so radiant that he realised that he really DIDN'T care who the brains of the operation was, as long as he got to stay with her.

"How about…. we go swim in the oasis?" He said.

"Yes!" She shouted, and gave him a small peck on the snout. "Let's gooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

By the time he looked around, she was already out of the door, taking off once she was clear of the arch so that she could achieve her maximum speed.

"Wait up, you cretin!" He yelled, and sprang after her at his top sprinting speed.

 _I love you, Green._ He thought to himself, and smiled.

He knew he was the luckiest guy in the world, because she loved him too.

~Meanwhile, on the other side of whatever planet Pyrrhia is on (AKA the Lost Continent) ~

A shape wandered through the tundra. The shape was wobbling. The shape was glowing. The shape was cursing ferociously.

"Those goddam fucking bastards. Those motherfucking, goddamned bastards." It yelled over the howling winds. It was, of course, referring to the bastards that had left it in this tundra with nothing to protect itself from the ongoing blizzard other than the flame it'd managed to manipulate into its body. To make it easier on all of us, I should probably reveal that the speaker of these profanities was a male. Said male was very, very tall. Also, quite muscular. Also, quite handsome. Also, he had special powers, which allowed him to do things like that 'putting fire inside himself to keep himself warm' trick. Except the powers had very clear limits. For instance; he could manipulate fire and the other elements, but he couldn't teleport. He couldn't summon things either. And any attempt to manipulate the elements in quantities larger than a handful often left him powerless for at least a few hours, which is why he couldn't, say, dig a shelter, or manipulate the air to blow around him. He couldn't do anything other than keep moving and hope that his powers would return eventually. Currently, his only plan was to reach the nearest cave and hide in there. But he couldn't go any faster, due to that stupid, STUPID wound along the left side of his torso, that was so painful he could barely move. It had been inflicted on him by- another wave of pain shot through his body, and he almost collapsed. But no. He had to avenge them. He HAD to. There was no alternative. So he kept moving, knowing that at any moment he could die. But he didn't stop. He wouldn't give up.

He would never do that.

~About 100 feet away, but 40 feet up, so that like 107.703 feet or something? ~

"I can't just leave him there to die."

"Yes you can."

"You know what I mean, me."

"And you- or should I say, **I** , know that going down there will result in your DEATH."

This rather odd dialogue came from a young Rainwing, who was currently debating the ethics of heading down and saving the obviously injured dragon limping his way along the tundra floor with himself.

"Remember what happened the last time you tried to help out?"

"Yeah." He sighed. What had happened was that he had offered to go on a scouting mission looking for other islands across the sea, due to his excellent eyesight. It was sure to get the attention of his mother, he had thought. But no, when he told her, she had just said, "Aww, Kiwi, you're going on an adventure! That's amazing!" and had gone back to sleeping through sun time.

 _Well, no chance of that happening here._ He thought, looking up at the clouds blocking out almost all light. After the most powerful winds he had ever encountered had blown him off course, he had ended up in what looked like the Ice Kingdom, except uninhabited. The only reason he had not frozen to death was that the caves he was in were unnaturally warm. Further investigation had revealed that the mountain was in fact a volcano, and he was sheltering in one of the tubes that, if the volcano erupted, the lava would spew out of. So, if there was an eruption, he was cooked.

But enough about him. There was a badly limping, possibly dying… he wasn't sure what species of dragon that was. "Is that dragon glowing?" He leaned over the edge to get a closer look.

At that instant, there was a lull in the wind, and the snow cleared. At the same time, the dragon looked up, probably to curse the clouds that were causing the storm. And at THAT exact moment, a small gap in the clouds opened, shining light on the dragons' face. The dragon didn't see him, but he DEFINITELY saw the dragon.

His heart stopped beating the instant the dragon looked up. He got a clear view of his handsome features, and muscles, and everything else, and suddenly, the part of him that was opposed to going down there changed its mind.

"That dragon will not die there." It said. " _Especially_ not if he looks even better close up."

So, with minimal hesitation, Kiwi jumped.

~ Now back to this guy on the tundra floor ~

Just as the swell ended, the dragon began to hear a weird whistling kind of sound.

 _What's that sound?_ He thought. _It sounds like someone is dive-bombing me._

At that instant, a dragon landed face-first in a snowdrift a few yards away.

The dragon stood still. _Well, shucks. I was right._

He limped away from the dragon, who was shaking the snow off his snout. For all he knew, he had been sent by… _THEM._ It was a species he had never seen before, since its scales changed colour every few seconds. Now they were grey, then they bloomed yellow, and finally, as the dragon noticed him, pink began to spread along his wingtips, and then engulfed them entirely by the time he had pulled himself out of the snowdrift.

"Um, hello?" the dragon started, obviously unsure of himself. Either that, or he was getting distracted by his many injuries, as he kept glancing at his torso. "I'm Kiwi, but my friends call me Kiki, and, ummmmm…" Kiwi wasn't even attempting to keep his focus on his eyes anymore, "I was up in one of those caves up there and I saw you were wounded."

" _What ARE you?"_ he whispered.

"Beg pardon?" Kiwi replied.

"WHAT ARE YOU!" he shouted over the howling.

"That's not important!" the dragon shouted. "You need to come with me. There's some shelter up on that mountain!"

"What do you mean?" he shouted back.

"SHELTER YOU IDIOT!" he dragon yelled. "WHERE YOU WON'T FREEZE TO DEATH!"

The snow was getting stronger. The winds were growing louder. He wouldn't make it to shelter.

"Save…. Yourself." He choked out. "I won't make it. Not with this wound."

"What're you t-t-taking about?" Kiwi stuttered. The cold was starting to have an effect on him. His scales were now blooming white.

"My injury," at this he lifted his wing up to display it more fully, "won't let me climb up an incline of any sort with any speed. I won't make it, even if I decide to come with you."

"Why wouldn't you?" Kiwi asked, confused.

"Because I don't know you! You could be out to kill me!" he replied.

Kiwi simply stared. "I'm almost half as tall as you are, am way scrawnier, have no muscle and no weapon. How would I kill you?"

He sighed. There was no other option, was there?

"Alright. If you can get me to your cave, I will be forever indebted to you."

"Ah, nonsense." Kiwi said. The colour was starting to drain from his scales. He didn't have long.

Together, they heaved up the incline. Each step was more and more painful, and the temperatures were dropping. But just as he thought he couldn't make it…

"H-h-here it i-i-is."' Kiwi was shivering badly. Icicles were forming on his nose.

They tumbled into the cave, and slowly progressed deeper inside. As they rounded a corner, the sound of the wind decreased substantially, and it became comfortably warm.

He collapsed on the ground. He had been sure he was going to die. And now, thanks to this…. THING, he hadn't.

"Thank You, Kiwi." He said, meaning it.

"It's the least I could do." Kiwi replied, flopping down about two feet away from him.

They lay there for a while, catching their breath.

Suddenly, Kiwi asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Brightheart."

"That's a nice name." Kiwi said.

They huddled closer as the winds grew stronger.

~ Somewhere between Jade Mountain and that outpost from the end of Darkness of Dragons~

Qibli had just been out answering the call of nature when he heard Moon scream.

He didn't wait to think. He just ran.

"Qibli!" she yelled out.

He ran into the small clearing in which they had set up camp. "What happened?" he asked with concern.

Moonwatcher put her head in her hands. "It's starting again."

"What is?" Qibli asked.

She slowly took her head out of her hands, and he realised her eyes were glowing.

 _Over this land, a star will burn_

 _And bring destruction and death_

 _and when these four dragons foretold_

 _appear, they shall be put to the test_

 _A dragon will kill, by the will of another_

 _A father, a son, a sister, a mother_

 _And two more dragons shall bring the light_

 _One of rain and the other called Bright_

 _A traitor will uncover the truth_

 _hidden in the darkest of the dark_

 _and a forgotten prince of scales untrue_

 _will bring the peace at last_

 _and for this prophecy to be true_

 _a test most would confound_

 _The last of the Lightwings_

 _really must be found!_

Utter silence.

Qibli had already committed the poem to memory when he realised something.

 _Moon looks terrified._ He thought. _I should do something about that._

"That was the worst kind of Prophecy, Moon" he said gravely.

"Which kind?" she asked hoarsely.

" _The limerick kind!"_ he hissed and then gave an exaggeratedly evil laugh.

Moon looked at him, stunned, and he was worried that his joke had had an adverse effect on her. Then she suddenly broke into peals of laughter and began rolling on the ground. "You- you don't even know what a limerick is." She giggled. He sighed in relief and lay down next to her.

"I don't. But it stopped you from worrying, didn't it?"

Moon laughed quietly, and then sat up.

"I'd hoped the next prophecy would come after we were both long gone."

"Me too. But, ah well. I guess I'll have to save the day again."

He flashed her a grin. She smiled sadly and then leaned into him.

"I don't think the prophecy is about us, Qibli."

"Are you kidding? Did you miss the bit where it said, 'And the coolest, most awesomest dragon of all time beats the villain with her heroic and totally buff Sandwing sidekick?"

Moon giggled, which was music to Qibli's ears. "I just hope this one doesn't kick off another war. Or the destruction of a mountain. Or require us to shrink another dragon."

"Hmm." Qibli kissed the top of her head. "With you by my side, I'm not that worried about any of those things."

"Yeah…"

They both settled down to sleep again.

"How much longer until we get back to Jade Mountain again?"

"Not long. About two days more, I think. Why?"

"I wanna see how everybody is doing. Also, remember the mystery species dragon?"

"Oh yeah, we're supposed to report that, aren't we?"

"Yup. I think first to Queen Glory, and then to Sunny and the rest."

"Oh yeah."

"How do you think they'll react?"

"Ah, I don't know. They'll panic, probably. And Tsunami will beg us _please_ not to tell her that we have another prophecy. And then we'll tell her about the prophecy. And then it'll all work out."

Moon smiled, and pecked his cheek.

They curled up together, and resumed their sleep.

~ Pyrrhian Night Sky ~

Far, far above the inhabitants of the world, seven stars seemed to revolve on a single axis. They spun about, teasing each other, until suddenly- they all fell into place.

What this meant, nobody could tell yet. But somewhere, a young dragonet woke from a restless sleep and said- "Its me."

Somewhere else, an older dragon laughed.

And then choked on his laughter.

"Godfucking damnit. That's really fucking annoying when that happens." He grumbled.

His scales were pristine and metallic. And a neon yellow.

"I really need to get out more. All this cave dust isn't good for my system."

Slowly, he walked out into the night.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **A/N: So, here we are again. A week has gone by, and it is time to update.**

 **How many followers do I have?**

 ***checks website* One.**

 ***keeps staring at website as Moonlight Sonata Movement 2 starts playing and picture transitions into grayscale***

 **I have to say, I truly did not expect 6125 words to be almost 15 pages in Word; I suppose it feels like less when you're reading it.**

 **We have our first OC, so that's a good thing, right? His name is Pluto, and he will show up soon? I'm not sure. I have a vague (Read: no) idea about where this story is going. But rest assured, I'll have to juggle a lot of things as time goes on. I'm writing most of these chapters in this month, because I'll need that backlog when school starts up again. I have no idea how much time I'll be able to dedicate to writing. Certainly not the hours I'm dedicating right now.**

 **Enough about me, though. Meet; ME! More specifically, the musical side of me, who has some suggestions.**

 **Musical Side of Me: Yes. First off, to understand what it's like freezing to death, check out "A Death" by "an Unkindness". Then, for the first bit of this chapter, listen to "Planets" by "Ludovico Einaudi". For the next few bits, there really isn't anything I can recommend. Maybe some Vivaldi or Mozart or Chopin; just some filler "do do do" music. But for the flashback scene, do check out "The Lost Continent" by "audiomachine". In fact, let it run over into the next scene too. But don't play it through the ENTIRE scene. Stop it when the argument ends. And finally, for the last bit of this chapter, check out "We'll Meet Again" by "Dennis Kuo". And then listen to all of Dennis Kuo's other songs. Seriously, you should. They're all amazing. Do that.**

 **Bye now!**

 **Regular Me: Have fun!**

 **P.S: Does anybody know about the process to get into Jade Mountain? Do you HAVE to be invited, or do you just show up and ask for admission? I really hope it's the latter; otherwise most of this story is screwed.**

 **P.P.S: If anybody is wondering about that reference to a "healing centre" in the sky kingdom in the prologue, it's because that was my attempt at a shout out to Sandshadow9, the author of one of the best fanfictions I've ever read; Healed. And it's been a month since it updated. Pick up the slack, Sandshadow9!**

 **(I'm just kidding. Take as much time as you like. That story is awesome;)**

 **P.P.P.S: I've now got a place for the one OC that's been submitted so far, and I think I'll need you guys to submit a few more. I'll tell you which ones I need- a Sandwing OC, a Mudwing OC, a Stormwing OC, a Sapphirewing OC and a Silverwing OC.**

 **Note: I don't actually NEED these OC's (I can just come up with some if nobody submits any). It's just that I find that more people write reviews if it means they can submit OCs. I don't know. Maybe it's just me.**

 **Enjoy!**

~ In that arctic tundra ~

It had taken a while, but the storm had finally ended. The temperatures were rising again. Granted, they wouldn't go above zero but hey, you take what you get.

Brightheart had finally fallen asleep, and though Kiwi wished that he could remain asleep forever, he would now have to treat his wound. He grabbed the pack that had been handed out to all the scouts before they left, by a Rainwing who was WAY too friendly for someone who had been woken up at 6 in the morning.

"Hello, scouts!" she had almost yelled. "How do you do?"

" _Fine."_ A chant went up from the crowd.

"C'mon!" she yelled again. "Where's all your enthusiasm? How're you going to find new islands if you can't even say you're feeling good with conviction?"

She had then made them do jumping jacks for an entire hour.

 _Huh._ He thought to himself. _I found an island just fine. An entire continent, far as I can tell._

He'd accidentally got himself into the wrong jet-stream, and by the time he'd realized it, it was far too late to try and escape. He remembered vividly thinking that nobody would even notice that he was gone, since his mother would still be sunning herself out. He remembered feeling like his blood was freezing, having to wrap his wings around his body, the terrifying feeling of not being able to control where you were going at all, how the wind howled in his ears, and how scared he was before he'd found the cave. It had been almost a day of just recovering in it before he happened upon Brightheart. Speaking of Brightheart, he had just retrieved his First-Aid Kit from his pack when he noticed something.

" _Aww."_ He whispered. _"He drools in his sleep. That's so cute!"_

Eventually, he stopped obsessing and got ready. It would be better to get this over with right now, instead of later, when the wound wouldn't be in an environment as sterile as an arctic tundra. He braced himself and lifted Bright's multicoloured wing up.

"Oh my-" the wound was a long and jagged affair. He'd have to work quickly. He retrieved a small but very sturdy thorn from his pack, and some of the tendons left over from his first meal in the cave; a pig he had carried from scout camp, and that had died in transit. It was a stark reminder of how close to death he himself had been. He threaded the tendons through the small hole at the blunt(er) end of the thorn, and-

"OW!" Brightheart yelled. "WHAT WAS THAT?" he yelled again, as he scuttled away, the Rainwing in pursuit.

"THAT WAS ME STITCHING UP YOUR WOUND, YOU DUMMY! NOW STAY STILL!"

"HOW DO I KNOW YOU AREN'T TRYING TO KILL ME?" he yelled back.

"IF I WAS," Kiwi screamed, "WOULDN'T I USE SOMETHING MORE SUITABLE THAN THIS?"

At the this, he pulled the thorn out of the bottom side of the wound and held it up, having completed the first stitch. He knew exactly how to do this, since he had always hung around the healer's hut back home. Far as he was concerned, only the healers and Queen Glory were productive members of the Rainwings society.

"Oh." Brightheart said timidly.

"Right. Stitch one. Onto the next!" Kiwi proclaimed confidently.

It took almost 22 stitches to close Bright's wound. To be fair, not once did he complain about how long it was taking, or how painful it was when Kiwi pulled each stitch shut, even though it obviously did. He closed the last stitch and tossed the thorn into the tundra- it wasn't safe to use anymore.

"What manner of terrible thing gave you that wound anyways?" Kiwi asked. No answer.

"Brightheart?" he turned around.

He was sitting up, with one eyebrow raised. "No offence, but we've known each other for less than a day. And while I'm grateful for you saving me, and closing my wound, and all, I'm not sure I want to tell you."

That threw him off his stride. Call him superficial, but he thought saving Bright's life would at least warrant a few answers about what got him into this mess in the first place. Still, he composed himself.

"Nah, that's understandable. Just one thing- it wasn't something dirty, was it?"

"No."

"Ah, then its fine." Kiwi said brightly (pardon the pun). "I was worried it would be infected, that's all." He came over and sat next to Brightheart. "So, Bright- can I call you that?"

"Sure."

"Ok. We need to talk."

"About what?" he asked, confused.

"About, well, the fact that you're a species of dragon I've never met, and I don't think you've ever seen scales like mine either."

"Oh yeah." Bright said, bridging his talons. "I thought that that was your power. Camouflage, I mean."

"Power?" he asked. "Oh no, I'm not an animus; this is just how the scales of ALL Rainwings are."

"Ok, question one- what's a Rainwing? And question two- what's an animus?"

"Well," Kiwi began, "A Rainwing is a type of dragon that lives in the rainforest, has changing scales, and needs lots of sun. An animus is a dragon that has magic."

"So, none of your species are born with powers?"

"Not unless they're animuses, but other species are; Nightwings can be born with the power to predict the future, or to read minds, and other stuff like that, without having magic."

"What are Nightwings?" Bright asked.

Kiwi sighed inwardly. This would take a while.

"Ok, so our continent is called Pyrrhia…"

Outside, the auroras flared into life.

~ In the rainforest ~

"Aaaaagaaaaaaagagaagaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Blue looked up ahead and noticed that Green had managed to walk right into a spiderweb. With a spider in it.

"Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffofmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-!" she finally broke loose of the web and the spider and promptly fell into a creek.

He peeked over the ridge to find that Green had now gotten stuck because everything was too mossy and slippery.

She spit water out and simply stated "I hate this goddamned forest."

"Ah, it's not so bad actually." Blue replied. "It's not that hot. There's food growing out of every tree. Dusty maidens. I like it better than the sand kingdom."

 **Mini A/N: That** _ **was**_ **a Top Gear Uganda reference, for the one person who got it.**

"Well," Green said, "At least we didn't fall over or trip or bump into or crush something every step we took!" she said, increasing the volume of her voice with every item she listed off, "In the damn sand kingdom."

"We, Green?" Blue said. "You're the only one who's been getting stuck so far."

"Really?" she said, eyes ablaze. "Get down here."

Blue shrugged and jumped into the creek.

"Good." She flipped over. "Now get out of here."

He looked at the mossy wall and calculated where his talons would latch on to take him out of the creek. He lunged for a handhold, grabbed it and-

*SPLASH*

He was in the creek. After about two seconds, Green's face came into view. It had 'I TOLD YOU SO' written all over it.

"That's amazingly slippery." He said, trying to act nonchalant. "I'm sure if I-" he grabbed another handhold and slipped again.

"Nope. What about-"

"No. What about here-"

After about 5 minutes of unsuccessful tries, Green called out "You could just accept my help, you know?"

"Nope. I've got it. Just-"

After another unsuccessful attempt, something above them cleared its throat.

"Erm, I'm one of Queen Glory's guards." It said. "I thought you were a threat, but, well…" the trail off spoke for itself. "Basically, I can get you out of that creek and to the Rainwing settlements."

"We would appreciate tha-" Green began, but was interrupted by Blue yelling "WHAT D'YOU MEAN NOT A THREAT? I AM SO A THREAT! LOOK!"

He attempted to swing his fists but slipped on some moss and fell over.

"Dude, you're embarrassing yourself." A voice spoke into his ear.

He screamed at an embarrassingly high pitch and jumped away.

The empty space at the other end of the creek warped into another Rainwing, who was somehow looking at him with both amusement and pity.

"Blue?" Green whispered into his ear. "You done?"

Blue deflated. "Yeah." He looked at the guard above them. "Just get us to the settlement. Please."

As the guard turned to lower a ladder down to get them out, Green came up beside him and twined their tails together.

"Relax. I made much more of a fool of myself on the way through the Rainforest. You'll be fine."

She walked up the ladder. Blue smiled and walked after her.

~Back in the volcano cave~

"And that-" Kiwi dew a deep breath, "is the full history of Pyrrhia."

He looked over at Bright, who looked like he was going to pass out.

"How were you able to make the war-torn history of an entire other continent with completely different species of dragons on it boring?" he yawned.

Kiwi sighed. "I'm not the best teacher."

"Agreed." Bright said. He sat up and stretched out.

"My turn?"

"Yup."

He sighed. "OK. I'm a Sapphirewing. Basically, I have blue scales- unless I'm doing magic, in which case they're red- my wings have rainbows on them, and my magic lets me do this-" he swirled his talon, and a small mound of snow detached from the pile near the cave entrance and rolled towards them. It then set itself on fire and melted into water, that spun itself around and into Bright's mouth. "With ease." He finished, and looked back at Kiwi, whose mouth was hanging open. He gathered a small pile of dust with his other talon and set it on top of Kiwi's nose.

 _Atchoo!_

Brightheart fell over laughing. Pretty soon he was joined by Kiwi, who had seemingly just realized how small and cute his sneeze sounded.

"Oh boy." Bright wheezed.

"Yeah." Kiwi agreed. They took some time to recover.

"Your power's really cool.", Kiwi admitted, after a while.

"You ready for some disappointment?" Bright asked Kiwi. "I can't really do this on a large scale; just about this much." He conjured up a snowball. "Any more and I wear myself out."

"Oh." Kiwi said. "It's still pretty cool, though. Do all the other members of your tribe have the same powers?"

"Yeah."

"So, are you the only tribe on this Continent?"

"Pantala."

"Come again?"

"Pantala. That's the name of this continent. There are-" he faltered. " _WERE_ four intelligent species of dragons on this here continent. The first type are the Sapphirewings. They pretty much look like me, but no two dragons have the same rainbow scales on their wings. We can manipulate the elements in small quantities. So, for instance, you wonder how I didn't freeze to death out there?" Kiwi nodded feverently. "Yeah, that's because I got some fire, and stuck it inside myself. The elements can't harm us, in cases like that."

"But then how did the snow affect you?" Kiwi wondered.

"Ok first, I said _SMALL_ quantities. That blizzard was not small. Also, the cold was in the air. I can't manipulate air at all.

"Anyways, the other type of species are the Silverwings."

"Why do you say that name as if you just chewed through a tree trunk and then drank cactus juice?"

"Because they're arrogant mass-murdering twats who killed my entire family and possibly an entire other tribe too." He fumed.

"What?" Kiwi said.

Brightheart sighed. This would take some explaining. He looked around.

"Ummm… why do you have that look on your face?" Kiwi asked as he got up and walked over to the smooth cave wall.

"Perfection." He whispered.

"What?" Kiwi asked. "You're freaking me out."

Brightheart turned around with a smile on his face. Kiwi half expected him to rub his talons together and cackle.

"Bring me… your best writing utensil."

~ At that Rainforest settlement~

Qibli and Moon had just landed and requested an audience with Glory. They really needed to tell Glory about that prophecy, and Fireclaw's information. Moon thought back to how the dragon had looked when they had first seen her;

~ In the land of Flashbacktopia ~

 _The dragon was quite badly injured. Far as they could tell, she had several ligament tears, and several cuts all over her torso._

" _Hello!" Qibli had said the second he realised how badly she was injured. "How're ya doing?"_

 _The dragon attempted a smile but it didn't quite come through. While Qibli practised his standup routine, presumably to cheer her up, Moon inspected her. Unlike most other dragons, this one didn't have thoughts like a runaway train, which meant she was much easier to interact with than, say, Kinkajou. She had Sapphire scales, which, unlike all dragons she had seen, were rounded and often formed patterns like swirls and curves and the like. She was also considerably larger than any dragon alive. Not as large as Darkstalker before he became Peacemaker, obviously, but still pretty large. Her wings had tiny, intricate patterns made of rainbow scales all over it, and she could've spent the rest of the day tracking the lines that they made. Her wounds, however, were impossible to look away from. They were large and plenty; all over her body. Moon decided that it was about time that Qibli stopped, so they could find out more._

" _So, what's your name?" she asked._

 _The dragon slowly pulled out a chalk slate and wrote on it, in the shakiest hand, '_ Fireclaw' _._

" _That's nice." Moon said, sidestepping the obvious question of 'Why can't you talk?' It would be better to ask that later. "Any reason why you're called that?"_

 _The dragon simply raised one of her talons, and a fire blazed into life on the tip; like a birthday candle._

 _Moon simply raised her eyebrows. Qibli's reaction, however, was less dignified._

" _Oh. MY. GOODNESS!" He yelled, looking like a little dragonet that had just been presented with the best magic trick ever. "How did you do that?" he asked._

 _The dragon smiled, and wrote again on the slate;_

I know how none of your species have powers like this; but we do. I am a Sapphirewing. All members of my species have powers like these.

 _She erased it, and then started over;_

I presume you are here for information about- as you put it, the "Lost Continent?"

 _Moon and Qibli nodded feverently. The dragon nodded and continued._

My continent is called Pantala. There are three other species of dragons on it; there are the Lightwings, who had scales that were almost impossible to damage, and were so powerful they could occasionally bend reality. Unfortunately, they're extinct now.

 _Moon gasped at how nonchalantly she said it. An entire species of dragon just… gone. Even Qibli seemed to be having a hard time keeping his emotions hidden. But Fireclaw didn't notice, and kept on going;_

Then there are the Silverwings, the high and mighty, who killed all the Lightwings and are currently hell-bent on killing off all the Sapphirewings too. They can be identified by their silver scales, and they have spikes from their nose along their back to their tails that can inject-

 _She erased the board again;_

Hallucinogenics into other dragons. That's why they're so powerful. Then there are the Stormwings, that can control the weather. But they're staying out of this war, because they don't want to interfere.

 _Moon had no trouble seeing how Fireclaw felt about these 'Non-Interference policies' by how hard she was gripping the board, and the rage that was coursing through her mind._

" _Do you know WHY they're doing this? The Silverwings, I mean." Qibli asked._

No. Far as we can tell, they think that we're out to get them, which is by far the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Even though we're powerful, us Sapphirewings can only influence small quantities of the elements, unless some very specific circumstances are fulfilled. And even though the Lightwings are powerful too, they're the most peaceful tribe on the continent!

" _This is very distressing." Moon admitted, looking over at Qibli. He seemed to agree. It was time to stop dancing around the question._

" _So, why are you so badly injured?" she asked her._

Well, I was captured and held as a prisoner of war. They did this- _At this she motioned to her body,_ to me there. After about a month, I tried to escape and failed. That's when they ripped out my vocal chords.

 _Both Moon and Qibli attempted, and failed, to hide their reactions. Fireclaw waved them off, as if she expected that._

After about a month of drinking ice-cold water, so that I would heal, I tried again. This time, I managed to escape, but ended up on an iceberg. In the escape, I'd gotten pretty hurt, so I couldn't fly. Then I happened upon Jerboa here.

" _Yes." Jerboa said. "Now please, step outside. I need to attend to Fireclaw's wounds again." She shooed them out and helped Fireclaw lie down._

 _Moon and Qibli just looked at each other._

" _What was that?" Qibli asked._

" _I believe that that was a plea for help, Qibli." Moon replied._

" _That makes sense." He said, as he began pacing. "But what does it mean? There's another continent filled with dragons that apparently have magic interwoven into them, not just special animuses. One of their tribes has gone EXTINCT, and this one is on the verge of dying off too, because of a tribe that's attacking them for seemingly no reason. What does this mean for us?" he turned back to her with worry clouding his eyes. "What if they head over here and attempt to kill us off as well? What if they…"_

 _He was now pacing so fast he was in actual danger of falling into the sea._

" _What if they-" at this, Moon cut him off._

" _Stop." He looked over, confused. "Just look at me. We won't be wiped out by another tribe. Pyrrhia is healing, Qibli. There is no way we'll just let another tribe walk over us. Right?"_

 _Qibli slowly calmed. "Yeah, you're right."_

 _Moon smiled and hugged him._

" _Ahem." A voice cleared its throat._

 _They jumped apart as Jerboa stepped out of the hut and beckoned for them to follow._

 _They walked further down the beach, stopping when they were sure that Fireclaw couldn't hear them. Jerboa turned to face them, the ocean to her back._

" _You should know that when I found her," Jerboa began, "she was in a bad way. Her lungs and ribs were damaged, her heart was barely beating, her talons had frozen and her wings had been sliced up to the point of basically being in tatters." She drew in a deep breath- retelling the story was clearly shaking her. Moon could see into her mind; the images were horrific._

" _It took me almost three months to get her to this state. I can't describe what it felt like after she woke up. It was the greatest relief I've had in my life. But then I found out that she couldn't speak, because her vocal chords had been torn out. That's why I was so surprised when, one day, I realised that she spoke our tongue, and knew how to write it."_

" _It seemed like she had been speaking it for her entire life." Moon commented._

" _Oh, at first there were a few subtle differences. But we've been working." She sighed. "It's basically all she can do."_

" _Can you entertain a theory of mine?" Qibli asked._

" _Go ahead."_

" _I think that these dragons may all be descendants of Darkstalker's girlfriend, that… whatsername…"_

" _Clearsight?" Moon asked._

" _Yes!" Qibli agreed. "Clearsight and that other Seawing guy."_

" _Well," said Jerboa, "That's certainly possible. It would explain a lot."_

" _Alright." Moon said. "What does this mean for us? What should WE do?"_

" _Well, I would argue that we should help these poor dragons." Said Jerboa. "But that's just me. What about you?"_

" _Well, I would argue yes as well, but we should probably inform all the Queens about this first. Then we could come together and decide as a whole what to do." Qibli said._

" _I agree. We just got over with one war." Moon continued. "I wouldn't want us jumping into another one without thinking first."_

" _Agreed." Jerboa said. "So, what are you going to do?"_

 _Well, we'll probably go around telling all the Queens about this. Thorn first, then Queen Ruby, then Moorhen, and so on. And then… I guess we go back to school?" Moon asked, looking over to Qibli, who nodded._

" _Right."_

~ *warp**woosh* back in the rainforest ~

Moon sighed. It had taken a while, going all around Pyrrhia, telling all the Queens, but they had all agreed to look into this. Pretty much the only Queens who they had not talked to were the Seawing and Icewing queens, because both those locations were inaccessible to them. Messengers had been dispatched, though. Finally, they had to visit Queen Glory to tell her as well.

"And here we are." Said their escort, who seemed to have just ingested twenty pounds of sugar, if the thoughts coursing through his mind were anything to go by. He let them into the throne hut, told them Queen Glory wouldn't be a minute, and left them to it.

They settled down into a comfortable silence. It had been a long couple of weeks, and they needed to recuperate.

The peace lasted all of twenty seconds.

"Wait, what's that noise?" Qibli asked her.

Moon was suddenly aware of the commotion outside too. She went over to the nearest window and pushed aside the vines covering it.

Outside, the serene rainforest sunset was being interrupted by a frantic Rainwing yelling at Queen Glory.

"What's up?" Qibli asked as he joined her.

"I don't know. Listen."

As they fell silent, Moon started to make out what was being said.

"He's just a little boy! How could you?" the Rainwing yelled.

"Calm down, Shimmer. He's nine!" Glory replied.

"He's still just a dragonet! When he told me about his 'scouting trip', I thought he would be part of a group!" the Rainwing yelled back. "What kind of an idiot lets dragonets out over the sea and HOPES THAT THEY DON'T GET LOST?"

"I can feel the spittle from her mouth over here." Qibli whispered. Moon shushed him. This seemed to be serious.

"Kiwi's a resourceful dragonet, Shimmer." Glory said, evidently trying to placate her. "He'll be fine."

"AND WHAT IF HE ISN'T?" the Rainwing yelled with such force that it seemed the whole rainforest had gone quiet to hear her.

"What. If. He's. DEAD? HE'S MY SON, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

At this, the realization seemed to hit her. "My soon could be dead, Glory." The Rainwing broke down, and Glory tried to comfort her.

"Shimmer, we have our best out there looking for him. You can't think like that, OK? He's alive."

Shimmer suddenly got up and wiped away her tears. "I need to be out there too."

"Shimmer, don't!" Glory yelled, but she was already gone.

Glory sighed and turned around. As she started towards the throne room, Qibli and Moon ducked away from the window.

"What was that about?" Qibli asked Moon.

"I don't know." Moon replied.

"Neither do I." said Deathbringer.

The two of them yelped and spun around. Deathbringer was sitting on the ground, casually inspecting his nails.

"Did-didn't notice you there." Qibli said, catching his breath.

"Not many do." Deathbringer admitted, flashing them a toothy smile. He walked over to the window.

"See those two dragons?" he asked.

Moon and Qibli came up next to him. He seemed to be pointing at an empty tree.

"What dragons?" Moon asked.

"Those dragons. The blue and green ones. They've been sitting there for a few minutes, listening to Glory and Shimmer argue."

"I don't see anything." Moon said. Qibli nodded in agreement.

"Those ones! The ones with the scar and the bad leg."

They looked again. Nothing.

"Can't see anything, Deathbringer." Qibli said. "Is your eyesight giving out?"

Deathbringer gave him a glare. "I'll show you when they get up to something suspicious. They will, at some point."

"Why are you terrorising my subjects, Deathbringer?" Glory asked from behind them. She seemed to have picked up on how Deathbringer snuck up behind people, because he seemed genuinely surprised that he hadn't heard her coming.

"Oh, no, no, no.' he said, turning around. "That's not what's going on here at all. Right?" he asked the two of them. "Right?" he asked them again.

" _Riiiiight_." Moon said hesitantly. She pushed her way past him. "Queen Glory, we have some information that you may want to hear about."

"Really?" she said, as she sat on her throne. She shot Deathbringer a look. He stared at her. She stared back. Eventually, he bowed, said "Stay safe, my Queen." and jumped right out of the window.

Glory began massaging her temples.

"Do tell."

~ In that damn tree~

"I'm telling you he saw us." Green said.

"No, he didn't." Blue retorted. "Our hiding spot is too good!"

"He did."

"Did not!"

"He did!"

"No, he didn't. And that's final." At that, Blue turned around and sat down in a huff.

"What will it take for you to admit that he saw us?" Green asked.

"He didn't."

"OK fine. He didn't. But what if he did?"

"Then we're just regular Rainwings to him. He can't possibly have seen my scar or your leg from that far off! Besides, he didn't see us."

Green sighed. "Fine. Now, what else should I put in this letter?"

"Well, you could put how it's possible that after he was blown onto Pantala, the dragonet was probably smart enough to change his appearance to that of a Silverwing, and was therefore not killed on sight."

"I think I'm gonna leave out the 'killed on sight' part. They're worried enough as it is."

"Alright." He sighed. "What's the logic here again?"

"We write down all that we know about our home, give it to the Queen anonymously, and then more dragons that find Pantala won't go through what that poor dragonet is going through."

"The poor dragonet is nine."

"He's still a poor dragonet!"

"WE'RE nine!"

"Well, we've been dealing with this since we were five. Your argument is invalid."

Blue huffed. "Fine." He flopped down next to her. "You done?"

"Almost…" she said, scribbling furiously. "Yeah. I'm done."

"Then let's deliver this letter."

They snuck down the rainforest foliage and tiptoed around to the entrance to the hut. They didn't actually need it to be open; they just needed to be able to slip the letter underneath the door.

"So, where's that scary looking Nightwing gone to?" he asked.

"I don't know." Green replied helpfully. "Maybe to check out that tree we were hiding in?"

"For the last time, Green." He replied, esperated. "He didn't see us!"

"Boo!" the scary looking Nightwing said from over their shoulders.

"Aaargh!" they both screamed and pivoted. He grinned.

"Hi. I'm Deathbringer." He smiled menacingly.

"And for the record, I did see you."

~ Inside the throne room ~

"Alright, I'll have to talk to my advisors about this whole Sapphirewing thing." Glory said. "But enough about that. You also said that you had a prophecy?"

"Yes." Moon said. "It came to me yesterday. It goes…" she signalled for Qibli to begin reciting it.

" _Over this land, a star will burn_

 _And bring destruction and death_

 _and when these five dragons foretold_

 _appear, they shall be put to the test_

 _A dragon will kill, by the will of another_

 _A father, a son, a sister, a mother_

 _And two more dragons shall bring the light_

 _One of rain and the other called Bright_

 _A traitor will uncover the truth_

 _hidden in the darkest of the dark_

 _and a forgotten prince of scales untrue_

 _will bring the peace at last_

 _and for this prophecy to be true_

 _a test most would confound_

 _The last of the Lightwings_

 _really must be found."_

Silence.

"Wow." Glory said. "That sounds like rubbish."

"Agreed." Said Qibli.

"Like, really bad."

"Yup." Moon agreed.

"It's like someone used the Jade Mountain prophecy as a stepping stone, but instead of using it to elevate the prophecy, they just made it worse."

"I know." Qibli said.

"It's like the person barely knew what the prophecy was supposed to foretell."

"Can't argue with that." Moon replied.

"And like the person only had like fifteen minutes to come up with it, and no inspiration, and-"

"WE GET THE IDEA." Qibli butted in.

A pause.

"Seriously, though." Glory admitted. "We've never had a prophecy that just says the name of one of the dragons in it."

"True." Moon said. "Or one that barely rhymes."

"Exactly. So, what do you think?"

"Well, I think that we should start looking for dragons named Bright. And look out for a comet or supernova as well."

"True. But what really worries me is the verse about the dragon killing by the hand of another."

"Yeah." Qibli agreed. "We shoul-" but he was cut off by Deathbringer entering the throne room with two dragons suspended in his talons. The dragons in question looked like nothing Qibli had ever seen before. They were quite small compared to normal dragonets, were completely one colour, had more rounded snouts, and smooth, sharp metallic scales that glistened in the sunlight. They were protesting quite vehemently, but Deathbringer seemed unfased.

"These two were trying to sneak into the throne room." He said.

"Were not!" the green one protested. The blue one was still trying to fight him, but having very little luck.

Gory looked like she needed a nice, long vacation, if her putting her hands in her head was any indication.

"Who and what are you two?" she asked. "I've never seen the likes of you anywhere else."

"RAINWING/NIGHTWING HYBRID ORPHANS FROM POSSIBILITY." They both yelled simultaneously.

"I've seen a few Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids in my time." Glory said. "None look like the two of you.

"Oh, that's because both our father and mother were hybrids too." the green one said confidently.

"And their parents were hybrids too!" the blue one added.

"Okay…" Glory was obviously suspicious. "Were you trying to sneak in?" she asked.

"NO!" the both of them yelled at the top of their lungs.

"Well, then, what WERE you trying to do?" Glory asked them.

"We were trying to deliver THIS letter," The blue one said, tossing the letter across the room, "ANONYMOUSLY." He glared at Deathbringer.

Glory picked up the letter, sighed and said, "Let them go, Deathbringer."

He immediately released them, and after many sneers, they left.

"Oh Glory," Deathbringer said, sitting next to her, "you are far too trusting."

Glory swatted at him, and then opened the letter.

"So, as I was saying-" Qibli started, but was stopped by Glory.

"Wait, wait." She said. Deathbringer looked over her shoulder at the now unfurled scroll, and his raised eyebrows showed that his interest was most definitely piqued.

"Glory?" Moon asked, stepping closer. "Is everything OK?"

She looked up, stunned.

"Those dragons, they…."

"What?" asked Qibli, even though he had already guessed. The weird scales? The weird colours? The obvious lies?

"They were from the Lost Continent."

~ Over the Ocean off to the south of the Rainforest Kingdom ~

Shimmer was struggling against the winds of the storm. She wasn't sure where Kiwi had gone, but she was almost certain she could get to the same place by flying as fast and hard in the direction he had last been spotted in. That plan, however, had backfired. It had been over six hours since she had last seen land, and the storm was getting worse. Any more time spent in the air, and she would simply drop unconscious, which, over these seas, would be the same as dropping dead.

She wasn't a Skywing. In no way was she built for flying long distances. But she pressed on. Because stopping would be akin to accepting that her son was dead.

That wouldn't happen.

She was going to keep going. Far as she was concerned, no force on this planet could stop her.

The tears were streaming down her face now. She remembered Kiwi. He had always been an energetic child, and she often found that she couldn't keep up with him. And most of the time, it was impossible to; with how much he would run around. That's why she often just let him run free, with no supervision. That's why it barely affected her when he came home with a broken talon, or a badly scratched wingtip. She thought that was something all children like him did.

But then, he had gone missing. And Shimmer had realised something.

Everything that he was doing these days was extra risky. And very dangerous. She had talked to the scout leader and had found out that Kiwi was the youngest dragonet out scouting. Something had then occurred to her; was her son doing all of this for attention? Was he confusing her nonchalance for lack of interest? That was what really scared her- her son may have gone missing solely to get her attention.

 _Well,_ she thought, _you have it now, Kiwi. And if- no, WHEN I find you…_

She tucked her wings closer and sped up. Was that a sliver of land on the horizon?

 _I'm never, ever, EVER letting you go._


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **A/N: So recently I obtained a copy of the Lost Continent.**

 **What. The. SHIT.**

 **First off, all those dragon species names sound extremely stupid. Second, in the description of the Leafwings it says *spoiler alert I guess?* they were apparently wiped out.**

 **Like the Lightwings.**

 **So, I'm just going into this book expecting the Leafwings to *spoiler alert again?* still be alive somewhere.**

 **I haven't actually finished the book right now, so I can't say anything, but apart from these issues, it seems promising!**

 **Besides, it still has a better prophecy than mine.**

 **I really shouldn't have put a 'really' at the end of mine. It seems unprofessional.**

 **Edit: Well, I read the book and all those dragon species names no longer sound stupid to me. Also, *clears throat*.**

 **THAT BOOK WAS AWESOME! AND WE GOT MORE SCAVENGERS-THAT-ARE-ACTUALLY POST-SCORCHING-HUMANS ACTION! AND BLUE PERFECTLY DESCRIBED WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN TROUBLE! AND I LOVE THIS SERIES! AND THE NEXT BOOK WILL DEFINITELY BE AWESOME TOO!**

 **Spoilers ahead. For both the Lost Continent and (somehow) this story too.**

 **(SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS) I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE LEAFWINGS! AND MY STORY WAS EVEN RIGHT ABOUT THE SUPPOSED REMAINING MEMBERS OF A TRIBE THAT WAS CONSIDERED EXTINCT! THREE! AND DON'T FORGET, I ALSO NAILED HOW TO GET FROM/TO THE LOST CONTINENT! BY STORM! TAKE THAT TUI! (IMSORRYMRSSUTHERLANDILOVEYOU)**

 **It did make me feel a bit worse about my writing though. Compared to Tui T. Sutherland, I'm a chimpanzee with a pen *(WINK WINK)*. But then I stopped feeling bad because hey, she has a year to come up with her stories; I took like three days to make up mine.**

 **But enough about me. Introducing: me!**

 **Musical side of me: Yay! So, to start off, why not listen to some Ballad in Autumn by Dennis Kuo in the first scene. Then, listen to some Try, Try, Try by Rachael Sage once you get to the bit with Kiwi and Brightheart. Coffee by Sylvan Esso once you end up in the rainforest. And once you get back to the island from Moana, I guess you get your Three Days Grace on? Try Nothing to Lose But You. For the Kiwi and Jade Mountain scenes, just let Work from Home by Fifth Harmony play on repeat. And for the last scene, listen to Let You Go feat. Ember Island by Illenium. That's it! Enjoy!**

 **P.S: I probably haven't got any of the characters of the dragonets of destiny right. But to be fair- I was too wrapped up in the release of the Lost Continent, and constantly rereading chapter 25 of the story Healed by Sandshadow9. It's *clears throat* hawt. And somehow also very adorable.**

 **P.P.S: I'm so close to 7000 words it hurts. Help me.**

 **P.P.P.S: I've drawn a rubbish map of my version of Pantala. I can upload it if you guys want.**

~Somewhere above the rain kingdom ~

Blue looked behind them, at the fast receding Rainforest kingdom. After that run-in with the Queen, he and Green had decided to high-tail it out of there.

There had been many, many worrying noises as they took to the skies in haste. But the sounds had faded away about ten minutes ago; and as they flew further and further from the Rain Kingdom, Blue found himself relaxing.

"Ok, I think we're fine." He said. "I don't think anybody's following us."

He looked at Green, flying a few yards in front of him, who hadn't acknowledged his words in any way.

"Green?" he asked worriedly.

"So, he didn't see us then?" Green shouted, whipping her head back to glare at him.

"I already apologised!" Blue retorted. "I still don't know _how_ he saw us! He was over a hundred yards away!"

Green didn't respond, instead choosing to fly faster.

 _Fine, be that way._ He thought, but on the inside, he knew he was in the wrong.

 _I didn't listen to her, nearly got us captured, DEFINITELY blew our cover, and I'm mad at her?_ He realised.

He sped up and pulled alongside her.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said softly. "I…. I was a jerk. I should've listened to you."

Green harrumphed and turned her head away, but he could tell by the lines around her eyes that she was smiling.

"Fine." She said after a while. "Apology accepted. Just, be careful next time."

He nodded. This was his first encounter with an ACTUAL Nightwing; previously, he had just heard about them from the locals. He wouldn't be making the mistake of underestimating them the next time he saw one.

"So, what's the plan?" Green asked after some more time had passed.

Blue thought about it. "Well, I guess we head to Jade Mountain and start a new life as Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids."

Green grinned. "Sure. But for now, lets just enjoy the sunset."

Blue looked over at the sun, about to dip below the horizon. It was a stunning vista of colour. The sky was painted a dark orange, with streaks of purple and yellow running through it. At the other horizon, Blue could see the dark talons of night reaching out to encompass the world. The first stars were already visible.

Below him, there was a sudden cacophony.

"What was that?" he asked, when suddenly the canopy seemed to lift off and come straight at them.

"Birds!" Green yelled.

Sure enough, they were. All sorts, in fact. Birds of green and blue, birds with grey feathers, birds with mohawks and gigantic tails, all passed just beneath them. A few brave ones ventured up to where the dragons were flying and perched between Green's shoulder blades.

"Blue, look!" she laughed. The birds were all in the air now, possibly heading towards another part of the rainforest. The birds sitting on Green left, and they were once more alone.

"This place is like magic." Blue commented, unable to hide his smile.

"It is!" Green agreed, nodding so hard he was worried her head might fall off.

He laughed, and as night finally fell, they approached Jade Mountain.

~ That island from Moana except off the coast of Pantala and those Silverwing b*tches gotta show up ~

" _Take her now!"_

"Uurgh…" Shimmer had a huge headache. She cracked one eye open, and immediately wished that she hadn't. There was a weird, silver dragon standing over her. And her head hurt. And her mouth was full of sand and saltwater.

"Where… am I?" she croaked.

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME, YOU FILTHY SAPPHIREWING." The thing shouted in her ear.

"Have… have any of you seen my son?" she choked out. Her mouth was drier than the Sand Kingdom in summer. "He's just a tiny dragonet,…" she continued as the dragon began hauling her across the beach she had managed to crash-land on last night.

"Please!" she yelled out. "Have you seen him? He has this mark right… here…" she pointed to the space just above her left eye.

"Shut her up." She heard a voice growl.

And then there was agony, and she was screaming, and suddenly the darkness around her warped into-

Nothing.

" _What?" she yelled, but no noise came out of her mouth. It was like she was underwater-_

*GASP*

Her head broke the waves, and she inhaled deep.

Her heart was beating at a million miles an hour.

"Deep breaths, deep breaths…" she was panicking.

Suddenly, the sea deposited her on the bank of another island. Or maybe it was the same one.

 _Why is everything so fuzzy?_ She thought to herself.

And then-

Kiwi was right there. Right. There. Not twenty feet away.

"Kiwi!" she yelled and sprinted across the wet sand. It was definitely him. The same posture, the same patterns of scales…

"Kiwi, are you OK?"

She turned him around so that she could see his face and her heart stopped.

He had no eyes.

They were just… gone.

Replaced by voids full of nothing but blackness.

All the rigidity in his muscles holding him up suddenly disappeared, causing him to collapse into her arms.

"No, no, no!" she screamed. She checked him for a pulse. Nothing.

"Damnit, Kiwi, can you hear me?" she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Nothing.

"He's not going to wake up, you know." A voice said from behind her.

She turned slowly. It was an arrogant looking Rainwing, with yellow and red scales. The marks around his eyes were more prominent than they were in other Rainwings. His scales had a matte finish, and the eyes staring her down right now were a mix between Olive and Deep Green.

"Gecko." She growled. This was the… the ASSHOLE who had left her as soon as he realised she had become gravid. "I thought you were too busy exploring the five kingdoms to care about your own SON!"

A small stretch of oddly dry sand separated the two of them; the sea was to her left, the island was to her right.

"Oh, no." Gecko laughed, the same laugh that had made her fall in love with him in the first place. She had missed it.

 _No, Shimmer, focus!_

"As I was saying," Gecko continued, "it's not that I didn't care about my own son, Shimmer."

He stepped across the sand and got right up in her face.

"I just didn't care about you."

It hit her like a hammer.

"Yes." He said, clearly savouring the look on her face. "I never cared about you! After all…"

He sneered, an expression she had never, EVER seen on Gecko's face. Ever.

"Who would?"

Tears were escaping from the corners of her eyes.

"Not your own son, of course." Gecko continued.

"What?" she yelled. "How dare you!"

"Really?" Gecko responded. "How dare I?"

And then he punched her.

The force sent her sprawling onto her back. She blinked the sand out of her eyes, and attempted to get up, only to find that Gecko's talon was stopping her.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he screamed into her face, the rage in his eyes completely foreign to her.

"HOW DARE YOU LET _MY SON_ GO OUT TO SEA AND GET LOST!" he screamed again.

"I- I didn't know-" Shimmer began to protest, but she was cut off.

"Yes you fucking did, you bitch." Gecko said. He had regained his composure (she had never known him to harm another dragon), and was now walking over to where Kiwi lay, limp on the sand. Somehow, seeing Kiwi like that affected her more than anything Gecko had said, and the tears were now streaming down her face.

"You neglected him." Gecko said, stepping around Kiwi's body. "Since day one. You caused years' worth of psychological damage, because you were- too lazy, right?" he turned once more to question her.

"I thought-" she began, but suddenly Gecko was right in front of her.

"LIES, Shimmer!" he yelled. "Those are excuses, and you know they are. Tell me why you neglected him."

"He was hyperactive and-"

Gecko punched her in the gut, causing her to choke on her words.

"TELL ME!" he grabbed her neck and began choking her.

"He-" Shimmer's air supply was slowly being cut off.

"No!"

Her life was literally flashing before her eyes; all those bittersweets moments with Gecko, all the fun she and Kiwi used to have when he was just a small dragonet.

"TELL ME!"

The time that they had gone looking for fruit for a meal, and Kiwi didn't want to eat one because he thought its parents would be sad.

"TELL ME, SHIMMER!"

The time that Kiwi had gotten lost trying to get a scavenger out of the rainforest, so it wouldn't get trapped in the mud or eaten by the various animals. When she asked him why he had done it, he had simply shrugged and said, "It was the right thing to do."

"SAY IT."

Time went on, and wonderful memories like those began to grow rare and far apart. As he grew older, he started to develop more prominent marks around his eyes, which were turning Kiwi Green. They would do less and less things together, and soon they barely spoke.

"SAY IT, SHIMMER. SAY IT OR SO HELP ME I'LL-"

"He- he-" and at that moment, Shimmer realised it. Why she had done everything that she had done.

"He reminded me of you."

Gecko released her, breathing hard.

"Those beautiful eyes," she panted, still recovering from the attack. "Those marks _around_ those beautiful eyes; he was becoming just like you, Gecko. The same features, the same mannerisms, the exact same personalities. You were always so sweet, and kind, and caring, and you-" she was crying even harder.

"You just left me."

Gecko said nothing, instead choosing to stare at her.

"And as the days went on, Kiwi was going off more and more, exploring the rainforest." She wiped some tears off her face. "He would always come back, and I would talk to him about how it had gone, and he would always talk about how amazing all of it was. And I was just so, SO scared that one day, he would set off and never come back."

"So, to stop that from happening, you tried to neglect him."

"No!" she sobbed. "I distanced myself from him just so that I wouldn't have to deal with the- the pain when he-"

She couldn't even complete her sentence.

Gecko came over to her.

"And now, you realise the primary reason for him leaving was your pain-avoidance tactic."

"Yes." She said sadly. There was no other way to put it, was there?

"I'm a terrible excuse for a parent." She admitted.

"Shimmer, no matter the mistakes you've made in the past, you can always rectify them. You know that."

"I CAN'T IF MY SON IS DEAD, GECKO!" she cried, and curled up into a ball, sobbing.

Soon afterwards, Gecko left. His warmth still lingered.

' _Hello? Hello? Are you alright?"_

 _Huh? She thought. It felt like she was underwater again._

 _Did I get pulled under? She thought as-_

Her eyes opened to find a small dragonet with silver scales and no wings, no more than five years old, looking at her. Looking around, she realised that she was in a cage, and the dragonet was on the other side of the bars.

"Wha- what happened to me?" she asked. "I was on an island, and there was-"

"You were stung by the guards." The dragonet interrupted.

"And…" she asked, not getting it.

"And their venom has hallucinogenics in it." He said, as if she would be crazy not to know that.

"Oh." She said in a small voice.

That had all been a dream. Kiwi dying. Gecko coming back to confront her.

But her realising that she was a horrible mother; that was still true.

 _Kiwi, if I ever find you,_ she thought, _I will admit to everything I ever did to you. I love you._

She turned her attention to the dragons around her.They were species she had never seen before; including the wingless dragonet still in front of her cage.

"Who are you, little guy?" she asked.

He looked into her eyes and said, with absolute conviction;

"I'm the true prince of the Silverwings."

~back in that cave in the volcano on the tundra~

"….. and that's where we've ended up now." Brightheart finished. He looked back at the cave wall to gaze at his masterpiece; a huge map of Pantala, with the (former)Lightwing, Sapphirewing, Silverwing and Stormwing territories marked out.

"What?" Kiwi asked.

He turned around and found that Kiwi looked extremely confused.

"Did you get any of that?"

A feverent shaking of the head.

"Alright. Let me start over." He said.

"Fine. Just…" Kiwi began, "give me the abbreviated version."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Ok, so about a million billion gajillion years ago, two dragons procreated, creating what I think was the first dragon with magic _intertwined_ into his biology blah blah I am so hot blah…."

Kiwi tuned him out and looked back at the map he had drawn on the wall. He had obviously put a lot of effort into making it accurate at the start, but had given up halfway through and just drawn some slightly wavy lines to symbolise the east and south coasts.

"…Kiwi? Kiwi!" Bright yelled.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Did you hear any of what I just said?" Bright asked.

"Yeah I did. Please, continue."

Bright smiled disarmingly. "So after who knows how many years of peacefully existing together, the Silverwings decided that they DIDN'T like any of us after all! And that's why they sent their forces out to murder the Lightwings. And they did. ALL OF THEM." He added for emphasis. "So, Lightwings are OUT." He crossed out the Lightwings' territory on top of the map.

"Then there are us. This settlement-" he struck out the Sapphirewing settlement on the right of the map. "ALSO GONE. Now, the Stormwings-" he pointed to the island at the top right of the map. "They don't care. So, basically-" and he drew a line through them too.

"Practically gone. Now, far as I know, the only reason this settlement-" he gestured to the Sapphirewing settlement on the left of the map, "is still safe is that here-" he gestured to the loosely drawn boundaries on the map, "be mountains. So, our best chance is to get there, and then maybe somebody will be able to help you get home. Got it?"

Bright looked over his shoulder at Kiwi, who looked like he had just been stabbed with a stalactite.

"What?" he asked Kiwi.

"H-how can you be so nonchalant about all of this?" Kiwi answered. "This was a massive genocide!"

Bright shrugged. "Well, I grew up with this. I haven't ever actually known a world in which most of the population _isn't_ trying to kill me. I guess I've grown used to it."

"That-" Kiwi tried to find a nice way to put it but failed. "- sounds horrifying."

"Ah well." He replied. "We live on. But that's not the point here, is it? The point is, _YOU-"_ here he pointed to Kiwi, "know all about Pantala now. And _THAT_ means that you know how to keep yourself safe. And the best way to do that is…." He trailed off, waiting for Kiwi to respond.

Kiwi just stared at him in shock and awe.

"It _iiiiisssss…"_ he asked again.

"Not to mess with Silverwings?" Kiwi asked hesitantly.

"YES!" he exclaimed. "Now, obviously, we can't go south, 'cause we'll freeze to death. And we-"

"Hold up." Kiwi said. "Where on this map are we?"

Bright blinked and pointed to the bottom of the map, marked 'Uninhabited.'

"It's uninhabited because anybody who tries to live here will freeze." Bright said. "And die." He added for emphasis.

Kiwi nodded. It made sense, now he thought about it. The Ice Kingdom was extremely far north, and if the theory that the world was round was to be believed (and it was, if that solar eclipse he had attended when he was five was anything to go by) then it followed that if you went far enough south, it would become freezing once more.

"So, our only option is to go south into Silverwing territory." He said.

Bright sighed. "Yes, it is our only option. If we want to survive, that is. And, since you saved my life, I suppose the best way to repay that would be to help you get home."

"You could come with me, you know." Kiwi said offhandedly.

"Say what?" Bright asked.

"You could come to Pyrrhia with me." He replied. "Along with the rest of your tribe. We don't have that many mass genocides these days."

Bright smiled at him like a teacher would smile at a naïve child.

"This is my home, Kiwi." He said. "I can't just pack up and leave it."

"Alright." Kiwi said hesitantly. Something about the Sapphirewing was bothering him just now. Some change in his mannerisms, or something.

"Quick question." He asked. "What EXACTLY does a Silverwing look like?"

"Well, they're deep silver, extremely metallic-like, and their scales are kinda like mirrors-"

Kiwi took a deep breath and concentrated. He hadn't done this since he was a dragonet; it was considered bad manners in Rainwing society, but manners go out of the window when you're in danger of being murdered.

The change began with his talons- the scales there seemed to grow into another colour and texture. It soon spread to the rest of his body, where each of the colourful and bright scales was changed to a dull metallic silver. Soon, the change spread to the scales around his eyes, and then as suddenly as it had begun-

He was silver.

"Woah." Bright said.

Kiwi smiled, and as he did, splotches of Violet appeared on his cheeks.

"Ummm, Kiwi?" Bright said, drawing his attention to colours on his face.

"Oh, yeah." Kiwi said sheepishly. His scales reverted back to normal- green with hints of red and deep purple.

"I can change my scales, but it requires a LOT of concentration." He admitted. "Also, my emotions show up as colours on my scales, so you can't compliment me when I'm camouflaging."

"So I have to insult you?" Bright asked, confused.

"No, not that either." He replied, a tiny streak of orange appearing on his torso.

"Just make sure that I'm as emotionless as possible. Not happy, not sad, not angry, not embarrassed, not prideful-" as the list went on, a myriad of colours appeared and disappeared, often moving over his scales in clumps like clouds over the ocean.

"Well, how do I do that?" Bright yelled over Kiwi, who was still listing off emotions that he shouldn't feel.

"I don't know!" Kiwi replied, spinning to face him head on. There was definitely more orange on his scales than there had been before.

"I- just-" he spluttered, and then sat down. His scales now changed to a lighter blue.

"We'll figure it out." Bright said, as he came to sit next to him.

"I hope we do." Kiwi replied.

~Back in the Glory Hut (get it? GET IT?) ~

"Well, it's pretty pointless to go look for them, isn't it?" Glory said. Deathbringer had just spent over an hour patrolling the rainforest, and what he had found was that those two dragons were long gone.

"Well, yes." Deathbringer replied. "We don't know what their abilities are. It's probably not changing their appearance, as they probably would've done that to look like Rainwings already. It could be super speed, super strength…" he counted them off on his talons, "…super anything! Take your pick."

"So, what do we do?" Moon said, referring to Qibli and her.

"Well, you guys will have to head off to Jade Mountain." Glory said. "Your work here is done."

"Agreed." Deathbringer said. They hesitated.

"Well, go on then!" he reiterated.

"What about all that juicy information in the scroll they gave you?" Qibli protested. "We could make use of that when we're talking to Sunny and Tsunami and the rest."

"This scroll contains all of what you've already told us." Glory said. "Nothing more. Now shoo."

Moon paused, and then motioned for Qibli to follow her outside.

~Outside the Glory Hut (this is getting old already) ~

"They were lying, weren't they?" Qibli asked Moon.

"Yes." She answered simply. "There was a lot of new information in the scroll. But that isn't what worried me, Qibli. Those dragons, the Blue and Green ones, I-" she hesitated. "I couldn't read their thoughts."

A silence.

"So?" Qibli asked. "Isn't that a good thing? No noise?"

"Yes, but what if they're dangerous?" she retorted. "If they have thoughts unreadable by me, then they could get up to anything."

"Alright, two things." Qibli said. "One; we've defeated enemies much more formidable than those two without having to read minds. Don't panic. Two, isn't it more plausible that they were carrying Starfire?"

"Oh yeah." Moon realised. "Maybe their continent just has lots of it for some reason."

"Exactly." He wrapped his wings around her. "Relax."

She smiled, and the sight of it was enough to make him feel like his heart was melting.

"Come on." He said, taking her talons.

"Let's go home."

~ (Last one I promise) back in the glory hut ~

The dragonets seemed to stop outside the hut, have a conversation, and then, finally, leave.

Glory sighed and slumped down, shutting her eyes and putting her talons over them.

"Stressful couple of days?" Deathbringer asked.

"You know full well they were." She growled, cracking one eye open to glare at him. All the scales along her spine and around her eyes were a peculiar mix of brown, orange and black. The rest of her was green, although the scales around her talons morphed into pink when Deathbringer slumped down beside her and put his left talon on her right one.

"You know for a fact that It'll all work out." Deathbringer said.

"It always has," she repeated along with him "But what if it doesn't? I mean, we have a dragonet missing, and a mystery dragon bringing us news of a new continent, which has a tribe of mass murderers on it."

"Hey," Deathbringer said. "It's entirely possible that there's more to this that we aren't seeing. Remember what happened to the Nightwings?"

"Yeah." Glory said. She laughed. "I really like being the queen of the Rainwings and the Nightwings. But there are days, Deathbringer. There are days."

He held her closer. "I honestly think you need a nice, long vacation."

"I do, don't I?" she laughed.

"We'll see, after this whole 'lost continent' thing settles down." Deathbringer promised.

They just sat there, enjoying their company. Soon, Glory would have to start writing the letters that would go to all the other Queens, so that they could meet and discuss what to do; preferably with Fireclaw there for some testimony. She had been assured that messengers had already been sent with news to the Ice and Sea Kingdoms, so there shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Glory…" Deathbringer warned.

"What?" she asked.

"A dragon is running towards this hut at full speed. Stay here." He got up and went outside the hut.

In a second, she could hear what Deathbringer had heard- the panting of a dragon; the slapping of talons on the walkway outside.

Deathbringer had apparently judged that the dragon posed no threat, because he let her run right inside.

"My Queen." The dragon panted, "Shimmer is missing."

~Speaking of Shimmer…~

"What's your name, little guy?" Shimmer said for what felt the thousandth time. _This is much more frustrating than I remember it._ She thought. No matter what she told the child, he wouldn't tell her his name.

 _JUST SAY IT!_ Some part of her wanted to yell. She suppressed it.

"Do you have a mommy?" she asked. No reaction. "Or a daddy?"

The dragonet seemed to deflate. "I never saw him" He admitted.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I never saw either of my parents" He said.

"What happened to them?" she begged.

"My mommy didn't want me." His voice wobbled. "My daddy was taken away from me four years ago. And I never saw him again."

"Longsnout!" someone yelled from far away. "Get away from that Sapphirewing!"

He sighed, and ran off.

 _Longsnout?_ She thought to herself. _That sounds EXTREMLEY stupid._

And then she thought some more about how he had never smiled even once while she talked to him.

 _But not entirely inaccurate._ She thought.

As nobody seemed to be attending to her, and attempts to get their attention only got glares and threatening waves of barbed tails, she curled up and went to bed.

The next day, the dragonet was back.

 _No,_ she scolded, _his name is Longsnout._ She stifled a laugh. _It's probably best to get used to that name now, since he's probably the only company I'll be having._

"Your scales are odd." He said.

"Well, I can change how they look, you see." She replied, changing the scales on her face to those of a Silverwing.

"Cooooool." The dr- _Longsnout,_ admitted. "I wish I could do that."

 _Don't ask him about his wings don't ask him about his wings don't ask him about his wings don't-_

"Where are your wings?" she asked.

Somewhere inside of her, the rational side of her brain facepalmed.

"Oh." He said. From his face, she could tell that she had shocked him.

"You don't have to tell me." She said quickly, hoping to mend the damage she had undoubtedly caused.

He shrugged. "It's not that bad. They were colourful, so they had to be cut off."

"WHAT?" she exclaimed. "Why would anybody cut your wings off?"

"My mother was the Queen of the Silverwings." He said by way of explanation. "My father was one of the Sapphirewings who was visiting the royal palace. He used his magic to seduce her, made her gravid, and then once she was out from under his spell, she sent him here. And once I had hatched, she sent me here too."

"Why did she send you here?" she asked.

"It was for my protection." He replied. "That's also why my wings were cut off. Otherwise I would've been sent to the camps, like my father."

"The camps?" she asked. His story sounded horrifying, and chances are it was just going to get a lot worse.

"It's where all the prisoners who come here are eventually sent. They have to dig into Crow Mountain, for their new prison."

"Crow Mountain?"

He pointed to a mountain on the horizon, that stood out because it was almost completely pitch black.

 _What?_ Her mind was racing. _Digging for_ THEIR _prison?_

And then she realised the Silverwing's ploy.

 _Ingenious. They get labour out of us, and get to lower morale by having us literally dig our own graves._

She would've been impressed, if she wasn't heading there; possibly in the next few days.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Everybody thinks you're a Sapphirewing. But its obvious that you're not. So yeah. I want to help you. It's the right thing to do."

She almost burst into tears hearing that, but contained herself. "That's nice."

He smiled tentatively, as if not used to compliments.

"Longnose I swear!"

An extremely angry Silverwing came and dragged him away.

"Hey, let him go!" she yelled out.

The Silverwing didn't even look back.

"Hey!" she yelled again, and promptly had a tomato chucked at her snout.

After throwing it back, she began angrily pacing the length of her cage. She had just learned that she was pretty much screwed.

 _Goddamnit, Kiwi, where are you?_ She thought to herself. _I need you now more than ever._

~Speaking of Kiwi~

"Far as I can tell, there is only one major problem with your disguise." Brightheart admitted.

"What?" Kiwi asked.

"All Silverwings have a nose spike, and some more spikes all along their spines till the end of their tails. You…" he looked over him to confirm, "…don't."

"Ah, that's minor." Kiwi said dismissively.

"It's really not!" Brightheart protested. "The Silverwings are really strict about their social norms; they treat all dragon's that don't look EXACTLY like them like monsters. I know Silverwings who were ostracised because their scales weren't shiny enough."

As usual, Kiwi had the worst possible question to ask at the worst possible time.

"How do you know what Silverwings social norms are like?"

Bright hesitated.

"I'd rather not talk about that. Either." He added.

Kiwi tried to hide it, but he truly looked like a kicked puppy.

Bright sighed. In the – oh, it must've been almost an entire day! – that Kiwi and he had spent together, he had noticed that the Rainwing had some pretty serious self-esteem problems. And he seemed to be conflating the idea that Bright wasn't comfortable sharing details about his past with the idea that Bright wasn't comfortable around him, which couldn't be farther from the truth. In the hellish world Bright had lived in for most of his life, everybody was much too used to the war, and too sad or battle-hardened. Kiwi, being the EXTREMLEY peppy person that he was, broke the monotony to no extent. It was lots of fun talking with him, knowing that he'd add in sarcastic quips every now and then. And his scales were so beautiful…

"….understand." Kiwi concluded.

Bright blinked. He'd zoned out completely.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Kiwi turned around and glared at him.

"That was my big emotional speech, Bright! Did you really just zone out of it?" he asked angrily.

"Ummmm… yes?" he replied. He was still too focused on the things he'd been thinking about when Kiwi had interrupted. "To be fair, you tuned out my lecture about the entire history of Pantala since Clearsight landed on our shores."

"Clearsight?" interrupted Kiwi, all anger apparently dissipated.

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU SLEPT THROUGH!" he yelled.

Kiwi had suddenly gone over all blue, with the scales around his eyes turning Violet.

"Tell me more about this… Clearsight." He said in a tone so suave and ridiculous that Brightheart had to suppress laughter.

"Well,' he said, "composing himself, "once upon a time, a few thousand years ago, a dragon named Clearsight arrived on the island, met a dragon, fell in love with him, had lots of dragonets, and then…."

~ Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

She'll be coming round Jade Mountain when she cooooooooooooomes…..

She'll be com-

*Is violently stabbed by several stabbists* ~

"Let me get this straight." Tsunami said. "You-" she pointed to Blue and Green, "-would like me to admit you to Jade Mountain Academy?"

"Yes." Blue and Green said simultaneously.

"Even though you don't have a referral."

"Yes."

"Even though you have no official documents."

"Yes!" Blue said while Green rolled her eyes in esperation and said, "We told you, they were lost in the fire our parents died in!"

"So, yes." Tsunami said after a while.

They looked at each other and nodded.

Tsunami sighed a deep, deep sigh.

"You know that I can't do that, even in circumstances like this."

"But why?" they protested.

"Well, you could be a danger to the school!"

Blue and Green looked each other up and down, turned to Tsunami, observed how she was almost twice their size, and yelled, "HOW?"

"I can't move one of my legs, and he's smaller than even me for goodness sake!" Green exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but I'm larger than you." Blue said.

She simply sighed, and propped herself up on her bad leg, which gave her about two inches over Blue.

"Oh." He said in a small voice.

"But that's not the point." Green said, dropping down next to him.

"We _NEED_ to attend this academy." She admitted to Tsunami.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because we love learning, and would like to do more of it. Please."

Tsunami blinked.

"You willingly want to learn here?" she asked. "Not just come here to go travailing off across Pyrrhia on adventures, or get free food and lodgings?"

"No!" Blue exclaimed, shocked. "That's why people come here?"

"It's why we generally don't grant admission on demand." She admitted.

"But we aren't like that!" Green said. "He loves art and music, no matter how much he may deny it." She said, pointing to Blue.

"I don't!" he protested.

Green gave him a sceptical look, took his satchel and silently upended it.

Out fell several wooden and clay figurines, a ukulele-type instrument, and several sheets with either musical notes or drawings of landscapes on them.

"Ok, maybe a little bit." Blue admitted, before grabbing and putting the stuff back.

"And I'm positively obsessed with reading!" she said. "I can prove it! Give me any scroll and I can have it memorised in ten minutes. As long as I like it." She added quickly.

Tsunami scratched her head.

"Alright. But before I do anything, I may need to talk with the rest of the staff.

"Talk to them about what?" Sunny asked, entering the room with a gigantic stack of papers.

"Grades." She said by way of explanation. "The grades of the students are in."

"Really?" Tsunami asked. "I thought most of them missed the examinations while the world was almost destroyed by a dragon half the size of the mountain."

"Webs was a dear and made some more tests." Sunny said. She dropped the sheets off to one side of the cavern with the most gigantic thud, and turned around.

"Oh, who are these two?" she asked.

"These," Tsunami said, "are students who actually want to study."

"OHMYGODINEVERTHOUGHTTHEDAYWOULDCOME!" Sunny exclaimed. She ran over to them.

"What are your names where are you from I want to know every little detail about my SAVIOURS!" she yelled, bouncing up and down as she said it.

"Well, I'm Blue, she's Green, we hail from Possibility and we're Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids." Blue said.

"Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids are the best! Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids are the best!" Sunny chanted, as if expecting them to take up the chant too. Once it became apparent that nobody would, Sunny stopped and simply walked over to Tsunami.

"So, have you admitted them yet?" she asked.

"Well, no-" Tsunami began, but was cut off by Sunny, who gasped dramatically.

"You haven't admitted these students who actually want to study?" she said. "Rude."

"Hey, they could be a threat." Tsunami said.

"How?" Sunny said. "They're tiny!"

"Thanks." Blue muttered, and was promptly shushed by Green.

"OK, overlooking the threat part." Tsunami said. "They don't know what they're getting into."

"Well, what do you mean?" Green asked. Sunny smiled at her sheepishly.

"Well, we haven't exactly got the best track record on… taking care of our students."

"Well," Blue said. "We survived the carpet mafia. I'm sure we'll survive you!"

All the people in the room laughed uncomfortably.

"Anyways, I'll call Clay. He'll show you around the school, and if you still want to attend…" she shrugged. "Hats off to you. Off you go!"

As they left, Sunny sighed and collapsed on the floor.

"I think my new favourite dragon species may be Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids." She admitted. Carrying all those grades had really done a number on her spine. Her impromptu dance number hadn't helped.

"Yeah." Tsunami said. "We should ask Glory and Deathbringer when they plan to procreate."

"Agreed." Sunny said.

 **Mini A/N: If anybody wants to point out how these dragons are not actually old enough to procreate (in human terms (I think they're like 16 or 17)), (a) screw you, (b) this is how teenagers talk about other people who are couples (I know, for I am one of them) and (c) it's a plot point.**

 **Good luck figuring out how!**

~In a cave somewhere on Pantala~

The air was heavy with smog as Jasmine ran down the entrance to their home.

She ran down the tunnel at full speed, and didn't hesitate to jump off the huge cliff at the end of it. After about a minute of falling through darkness, she started to see some light. The light grew brighter and brighter until it revealed itself to be the Beacon, the light left shining in the centre of their town at all times. It provided much needed warmth to the residents, and acted as a guide to anybody falling through the cavern.

She knew she was late to story time- she had gotten lost exploring the caves again. She could almost imagine the anger on the faces of her parents. But right now she had to get to granpappy's hut as soon as possible.

Her granpappy used to be a magician. He still had some of the equipment lying around. And he loved children. Especially her. He called her his little princess.

He was the one who always came to her rescue when her parents were angry with her about how she hadn't cleaned the stove properly, or how she was always running around, and how one day she'd get herself killed.

But recently she had realised that her Granpappy was ill. One of her friends had told her her granmammy had had the same illness, and that she hadn't make it till the next summer. Or whatever counted for summer in an underground cavern beneath a mountain.

She ran into her house.

"Jasmine, you're late!" her mother yelled from somewhere inside the house.

"I know!" she yelled back, and burst into her granpappy's room.

He was an old and wrinkled soul. He was mostly blind, but somehow, he always knew she was coming.

Like now.

He smiled a toothless grin and hugged her with his brittle talons.

"My princess." He whispered into her ear.

Eventually, she had settled down into a comfortable position as her granpappy got ready to tell her stories.

"So, princess, what story would you like to hear today?" he asked.

"Hmmmmm." She pretended to think. It was always the same one.

"Tell me the story of us." She said.

"Anything for you." He replied, and then sat up straight, his blind eyes directed towards the roof.

"Once upon a time..." he began.

"…Yes, Granpappy?" she said, as she always did.

"Once upon a time," he continued, his voice rasping.

"There was sky."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **A/N: So, we got another OC! His name is Eclipse! Thanks to JaguarTheRavenClawRainwing for letting me use him. Sorry I changed his name, but I just thought Eclipse would be awesome for the** _ **specific purpose**_ **I have in mind for his character.**

 **Also, I think I forgot to mention who dreamt up Pluto. It was Saiba-of-the-IceWings. Sorry about that. Still, thank you to her too!**

 **Also, if you're wondering why this is being mentioned about two weeks after the OCs were first submitted, it's because I usually write these authors notes right after I'm done with the chapter. It generally takes way more time for the chapter to actually get published, with my weird ass schedule. The point is, as time goes on this backlog of chapters is slowly going to decrease, so the A/N will probably be rolled out along with the chapter on the same day its released.**

 **Also, real quick, I really loved writing one of the bits of this chapter. It's the one with all the Mini A/Notes in them. Basically, one day I was browsing on the net, found some fringe (read:Bollywood) music, decided to listen to it, and found that most of it is amazing. So, I included a lot of it in the chapter. You guys are gonna have to tell me how you liked all of it.**

 **Also, I need a plot. Basically, we need character conflict. I have a general outline for the plot, but I will need all of you to submit ideas for- well, basically, filler. I can't promise I'll use all of them, but rest assured I will take inspiration from them all.**

 **Also, to make it easier for all you guys and gals out there, read all of Bright's dialogue in the voice of former Top Gear, current The Grand Tour presenter James May. Believe me, it helps.**

 **But enough about me; meet me!**

 **Musical Side of me: Yes. Let's start off with Crystal Rose by Dennis Kuo, until you reach the bit with all the mini-A/N's. Then, in the next scene, listen to Time Castle by Dennis Kuo. Then, for the scene after that, check out "First Love" by Lost Kings (the remix, I think). Then, Forgive our Trespasses by audiomachine. Later, listen to Daydream by Dennis Kuo. Keep that going till you reach the scene with Pluto, where you must listen to Land of Ice and Fire by audiomachine. Finally, for the last bit, listen to "We don't believe what's on TV" BY twenty one pilots.**

 **P.S: Anybody here in love with Brendon Urie? I want the Pray for the Wicked Tour to start so badly!**

 **P.P.S: If anybody's wondering why I am so obsessed with Dennis Kuo, it's because his music is awesome, and also because he has a study music livestream going 24/7. Check it out- it's called Piano Music for Studying, Sleeping, Relaxing | Study Music Project 24/7 Livestream. I love it. It's awesome.**

 **P.P.P.S: To Moonshadow: Thanks for the feedback! After reading through my previous chapters, I've realised that all your points are completely valid. However, these chapters are written in advance, so you'll see the improved writing in chapter 4. Sorry. I couldn't PM you because you're a guest. Yeah. Bye!**

 **P.P.P.P.S: If anybody is wondering why the update schedule has changed (see summary), school is a bitch. Basically, I have two tests for no real reason, two 4000word essays to write based on books that I haven't yet read also for no reason and I now have to start work on all sorts of unnsessecary rubbish like college applications (sarcasm). So, yeah. Sorry.**

 **Also, so many words! Yay!**

 **I'm satisfied.**

 **Enjoy!**

~ Night on Jade Mountain ~

"So, what do you think about the faculty?" Green asked Blue.

"Eh. They're fine. A bit quirky, but fine." Blue responded, shrugging as they walked towards Clay's cave; as they had been instructed to do.

"I think they're all mad as loons." Green said, grinning.

Blue smiled. "They're not _that_ bad, Green."

At that exact moment, they walked into Clay's office.

And stopped.

"Hello!" Clay said exuberantly, noticing them standing in the hallway. "How are you two?" he asked.

"Fine." Green managed to choke out. Blue, on the other hand, was staring at the room slack-jawed.

The _entire_ cave was absolutely bathed in paint. Paint was spilled all over the floor, splattered all over the walls- some had even gotten onto the ceiling.

Clay was standing in the middle of all the carnage, attempting to paint a diagram of the dragon body. He was wearing an apron- evidently to protect himself from the paint.

It hadn't helped.

In fact, the apron looked spotless; unlike Clay, who was drenched in paint too. Literally everything except for his eyes was yellow.

Blue snorted as he failed to hold back a laugh. "I'm OK too."

"Good, good." Clay smiled. "I understand that you two want to attend this school?" he asked them, taking off the apron and tossing it aside.

"Yes." Green replied.

"Okay. So, keeping that in mind, I suppose I should start the tour." He continued, carefully putting the lids back on the jars he had been using.

The ones that no longer had any paint in them.

Blue tried- and failed- to hold back another laugh.

"Let's begin." Clay said, wiping his talons on the one part of the cave that wasn't covered in paint; he had now effectively painted the room magenta.

 _HA!_

Clay led them out of his chamber, which was in the same small cavern that housed the other staff of the school; several tunnels branched off into darkness; most of the other inhabitants of the mountain were asleep.

He selected what seemed to be the largest tunnel, and led them into it.

The network of tunnels was vast, spanning the entire mountain. Blue was more than aware of the millions of pounds of rock hanging above his head.

"Now, this is the new history cave." Clay pointed at a cave to their right. As Blue looked inside, impressed by the magnitude of scrolls and maps lining the walls and cubby-holes, Green asked, "New? What happened to the old one?"

"It was blown up." Clay said sadly. Then he brightened. "However, the view from this one is much better."

Green walked to the other side of the cave, where a huge crack in the wall let them look out, and gasped at the beautiful mountainous landscape. They were, quite literally, above the clouds here.

"It looks incredible." She admitted. Blue nodded in agreement.

"Well, there you are." Clay said. "Come along."

He led them further down the hallway, into a large room where lots of seats were placed in a small circle.

"This is the room of friendship." Clay said.

"What?" Blue asked.

"Well, we couldn't think of a proper name, so that's what we called it." He retorted. "Basically, since most of the dragons attending this school have," he hesitated, "a certain amount of animosity towards other dragon species, they get to sit here with Tsunami, sort out their differences and learn how to be friends."

"Interesting." Green said. "Does it help?"

"Depends." Clay said. "For some; yes. For others… not so much."

He led them out of the room, and into what appeared to be a nexus. All sorts of tunnels converged into theirs, and a doorway up ahead was framed by moonlight.

"Our next stop is the prey centre. This is where all the dragons eat."

Cay led them into a vast cavern where-

 _Ohmigod._ Blue's stomach heaved, and he could tell Green was feeling the same way.

"Is _all_ of that animal remains?" she choked out.

"Yes…" Clay said, confused.

Green looked very, very sick. Her emerald green scales had a more olive-green tint to them now.

"Sorry." Blue said, fanning his face. "We don't really eat animals."

"Oh!" Clay said. "Like the Rainwings. OK. We have a vegetarian section right…" Clay looked around. "…there. Sorry, I didn't realise-"

"That's fine." Green said. "Let's just go. The air in here is quite oppressive."

"Fine by me." Clay said, backing out of the cavern and selecting a different tunnel off to the left.

"The next cave is the healing centre, where I teach herbs and healing." Clay sang. "This isn't the cave you two are interested in, though."

At this, Clay stopped dead. Green and Blue ran into him, but he barely noticed. "That's this one."

Clay pointed to a tunnel lined with motivational quotes on the walls.

"Follow me!" he declared. As they walked in, Green noticed something interesting.

"Is that the smell of old scrolls?" she asked.

"Yes." Clay said, as they rounded the last corner to find the library.

It was a cosy yet impressive space. The walls were lined with cubbies filled to the brim with scrolls. Moonlight shone through the skylights and windows, and there were spots to curl up and read _everywhere._ Literally everywhere. In the centre of the room, there was a small circular desk that said 'Librarian' on it.

Green took the scene in, eyes shining. She then took off.

"THIS PLACE RULES!"

As Green ran around the room, admiring all the scrolls, Blue noticed a window without a covering over it. It looked very out of place.

"What happened to that?" he asked Clay.

Clay immediately lost his cheer. "Well, one of our students may have jumped through it."

"While playing with her friends, or…"

"While running from a student who wanted to kill her." Clay said. "She had a good reason, but… yeah." He said. He looked saddened, and a bit angry.

A loud gasp was heard from the other end of the cave.

"I've heard about this scroll in the Sky Kingdom!" Green yelled. "I didn't know a copy had actually survived! This place is awesome!"

She turned around and got a look at their crestfallen expressions.

"Not a good time?" she asked.

"Let's move on." Clay said, ushering them out into another tunnel that ended in a dead end. Two caves branched off from the end.

"These last two caves are the Music and Art caves-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Blue was already inside the art cave.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. The room had sculptures and drawings in every single nook and cranny. Easels and paintbrushes littered the ground, while small containers of paint were placed haphazardly on the shelves.

By the time Clay and Green had caught up, Blue had shot out of the Art Cave and into the Music Cave.

The music cave was vast, with instruments lying everywhere, and a poster that said 'Lookin' sharp!" with a picture of a sharp sign underneath ( **I'm so proud** ). Blue gasped and picked up what looked like a pair of bongos.

"I've never seen these before." He whispered, amazed. After a few pre-emptive taps, he played a quick jiffy.

"That sounded really goo-" Clay started, but was cut off by Blue, who had dropped the bongos because he had spotted a flute.

 **Mini A/N: He played the intro drum piece to Damned if I Do Ya Damned If I Don't by All Time Low. Check it out.**

"I used to love playing on this thing!" he said. He raised it to his lips, and puffed out a few notes. Clay stared on.

 **Mini A/N: He played the following solo (copy/paste it into youtube): Bum Bum Bole Taare Zameen Par (listen to it believe me its fun (but remember to skip to 25 seconds once the video starts)(otherwise you'll just hear some maniacal laughter)).**

Then he ran over to what looked like a trumpet except made out of wood.

"That's really hard to play-" Clay began to point out, but was then interrupted by Blue playing on it perfectly for about 40 seconds straight.

 **Another Mini A/N: What he played now was the introduction and riff to Hallelujah by Panic! At the Disco (listen to that too).**

As Clay tried to process the fact that Blue had just played a perfect solo on what he considered an unplayable instrument, Blue ran over to a guitar that had strings made of leaf fibres.

"Green, remember this?" he asked. He strummed the strings, adjusted the tuning pins, and began to play a four-note melody in standard time. He then started strumming, and commenced singing along. Both Clay and Green simply stood in the entrance, entranced. ( **grade-A pun, I feel)**

 **Final Mini A/N: What he played NOW is called (get ready to copy/paste into youtube) Aye Khuda Paathshaala (look up the lyric video (that has the full guitar intro)). It sounds awesome, and you don't even need understand the song to understand the meaning I love it (does that make sense? No? OK.)**

Soon, he finished, holding the last note after the sounds of the guitar had faded away.

"That was fun." He said, and chuckled nervously. "Was it good?"

Green looked at him, eyes shining. "I used to love that song." She said finally.

"Used to?" Blue asked fearfully.

Green ran over and hugged him so hard he began to choke.

"Can't- breathe-" he struggled to say.

After another squeeze, she released him and wiped away her tears.

"Are you okay?" Clay asked from behind them.

"Yeah." Green said, as Blue still struggled to catch his breath. "That song… it was one of the songs my parents always used to sing to me. Especially my dad"

The mood was suddenly extremely sombre.

"He taught that song to me, actually." Blue pointed out, finally recovered.

"He did?" Green asked.

"Yup." Blue smiled at her. "He taught me most of what I know about music."

"He would've been proud." Clay assured him.

Green wanted so hard to just kiss Blue, but that wouldn't have gone well with how she had claimed that Blue and her were siblings.

"Well, that was the last of the classrooms. I shall now show you two to the sleeping chambers." Clay said, and walked out.

Blue came up next to her.

"After you." He grinned.

They set out behind Clay, who led them through a few more nexuses and intersections before turning off into another cavern.

"Aaaaaaand the sleeping chambers!" Clay said, having paused after the 'and' as if expecting a drum roll. "Now, we split our students into different winglets. Usually, these winglets have one member of each species, but… we've decided to put both of you into the one that currently has the least number of students."

He stepped into one of the caves, and yelled out "Wake up, everybody."

The entire room was suddenly filled with the sound of several dragons groggily attempting to get out of bed.

 _Wait…_

OK. Not several. Three. A Rainwing, a Seawing and a Nightwing.

 _Wow, they must've really taken a hit._ Green thought.

"What's happening?" the grey-blue Seawing said, obviously disoriented. Weirdly, he was already awake, and standing to attention. "Is Anemone in trouble?"

"Whhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyy…." The Rainwing groaned, obviously not wanting to get out of bed.

The Seawing walked over to the bunk where the Nightwing was sleeping and flicked him behind the ear.

Immediately, the Nightwing shot up, and hit his head on the ledge over him.

"OW!" he shouted, holding his head in pain.

"What _possible_ reason could you have for waking us up this early?" the Rainwing complained. "Is the school under attack again?"

"No," Clay said. "I woke you up to meet these guys!" he signalled to her and Blue. "These are your new clawmates, Blue and Green. Blue, Green, this is the Gold Winglet. Introduce yourselves, students!"

Many groans arose from the assembled dragons. Then they stopped.

"I'm Tamarin." The Rainwing said, giving in and turning over so they could see her face. Most of her scales seemed to be blue and gold, and hadn't changed once since they'd entered the room, which was odd. Her body was covered in scars, and her eyes were a light blue. "To avoid future confusion, I should point out that I am blind."

"Hello!" Blue said. "I'm Blue." He extended his talon, and then retracted it when he realised his mistake.

"And I'm Green." Green added.

"What species are you guys?" the Seawing asked.

"Pike, that's rude." Clay said.

"Sorry." Pike said. "I'm Pike, how are you, what species are you guys?"

Clay sighed.

"We're Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids. With parents who were also hybrids." Green remarked, dropping her satchel.

Immediately, the Nightwing opened his eyes fully. His irises were glowing slightly orange, and his scales were jet black. He got out of bed, and slowly took a drink of water from a canteen nearby, all the while keeping his eyes on Green.

"You guys seem interesting," he said, staring at Green.

Green stared right back at him.

Eventually, after about half a minute, the Nightwing backed down. He set the canteen back where it was, and extended his talon to Green.

"Hello. I'm Pluto."

Green took it and shook it. It was pretty obvious that what had just happened had been a battle of wits between the two. The mood was tense.

"Well, I guess some backstory is in order." Pluto said, sitting down. "I'm Pluto. I replaced Bigtail after his…" Pluto paused. "…untimely demise at the hands of Sora."

"Wait, what?"

"You don't know what happened?" Tamarin asked.

"Wait!" Clay said. "Before we get to the bonding and the talking and all, I'm just gonna…" he handed the two of them some scrolls, " _These_ tell you when your classes are, _these_ tell you where all the classrooms are, and, just a heads up, you need to wake up at the same time as the sun. Hope to see you guys soon!"

Clay then ran out of the room, his proclamation of "May you have the power of Wings of Fire!" fading away into the night.

"That was it?" Tamarin exclaimed. "I was woken up for that? Urgh!"

"You still have to tell us what happened to your former clawmates." Blue said.

The mood went a bit sour. Tamarin sighed and got comfortable.

"Well," Tamarin began, "initially, we had other dragons as clawmates. Flame, Icicle, Sora, Bigtail, and Onyx."

"Well, what happened?" Green asked.

Tamarin took a deep breath. "Sora found out that Icicle had killed her sib in the war, and tried to kill Icicle in revenge, which led to Bigtail and the Skywing from the Jade Winglet dying. Sora then fled, with her brother who was also from the Jade Winglet, and Icicle was captured trying to kill Queen Glory of the Rainwings. Flame tried to kill Stonemover, that big animus guy under the mountain who is somehow Sunny's father, which we'll have to get into later, and was sent away. Onyx tried to kill Queen Thorn of the Sandwings and was also… sent… away." Tamarin faded off towards the end, and then shook her head.

"But that's not important. The important thing is that now you guys are here! And I've met you! So I can sleep now!"

And with that cheerful declaration, Tamarin rolled over in her bed, and was snoring an instant later.

Blue and Pike looked each other over. Pike seemed to be covered in small scars here and there, and his muscles were well toned. If he had to guess, he would say that Pike was a soldier of some sort.

"I'm going back to sleep." Pluto said, climbing into his bunk. "Sorry about this. I'm usually more socializable in the afternoon. When I've had a chance to wake up, you know? I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for you guys in the morning."

He gave Green a suggestive look. She looked back with her head cocked, as if to say, _what do you mean?_

Pluto just rolled over.

Pike soon went back to bed as well, adding "Take any of the free bunks."

So they did.

At least, _one_ of them did.

Almost an hour later, Green was still awake. She missed feeling Blue curled up next to her. This bunk system sucked.

And of course, she remembered how she hadn't been able to force thought's into Pluto's mind.

 _What does he know about us?_ Kept circling in her mind, right alongside the burning question.

 _Did we make the right decision coming here?_

At that exact instant, Blue dragged himself over her ledge, and lay down next to her.

"Couldn't sleep." He mumbled, before beginning to snore just a moment later.

Green smiled.

 _Yes. Yes, we did._

She put her wing over Blue, closed her eyes and dreamed of flying.

~ In a volcano near the south pole ~

"That's it?" Kiwi asked.

"Did I stutter?" Bright responded.

"Repeat that." Kiwi commanded.

"Alright." Bright said. "Once upon a time, a few thousand years ago, a dragon named Clearsight arrived on the island, met another dragon, fell in love with him, had lots of dragonets, and then…."

Kiwi gestured for him to go on.

Bright paused, put his talon in the air, and then set it down again. "That would be it."

Ten seconds of silence.

"Is there nothing else you know about Clearsight?" Kiwi asked.

"Well, we know she gave us our magic, and our eyes." Bright replied.

"Your eyes?" Kiwi asked, noticing them for possibly the first time. They were huge, and coloured a deep purple. Flecks of silver were scattered around the iris. He could get lost in them…

"Yeah. They're one of the few things that we know she gave us." Bright said, before noticing something.

"Wait, how do you know about Clearsight?"

"She came from our continent!" Kiwi responded. He had known about Clearsight ever since Darkstalker had attempted to take over Pyrrhia; one of the Nightwings had told him the details before leaving for the lost city.

"Wow." Bright admitted. "I always thought she was some kind of Celestial Being."

"Yeah." Kiwi agreed, before shaking his head. "We've gotten off topic. How are we supposed to get to that Sapphirewing settlement?"

"Right." Bright started editing the map, drawing in a mountain range in the bit that had 'Uninhabited' scrawled over it.

"We are here." he said, gesturing to a point on the range that seemed to be halfway to the southern tip of the continent.

"Basically, we'll have to get all the way up to here." He said, pointing to the very top of the range.

"You can't see it, but we're actually on a plateau." Here, he tried to draw the plateau, but gave up after about twelve seconds. "So, as soon as we get here," he said, gesturing to the last mountain, "we need to get to the bottom of the mountains, and then climb down the edge of the plateau."

"So, when you say that, I presume you mean that we'll have to climb down an absolutely _gigantic_ cliff?"

"Your presumption is accurate. And before you ask if we can fly down it, we _know_ there are Silverwing camps in the woods beyond the plateau, and they _will_ shoot us down. We need to climb down it without being seen, travel through some woods, some deltas, some tectonic hotspots-"

"What does tectonic hotspot mean?" Kiwi asked.

"There will be earthquakes there. Lots of them."

"Earthquakes? Like, the earth will shake?"

"Quite violently, _yes._ "

Kiwi shuddered. He had no idea what that would be like, but it didn't sound very pleasant.

"And let's not forget the fact that, at the end of it all, we'll have another mountain range that has, in all probability, some very substantial Lightwing presence all over it. So, it won't be easy."

They simply sat there for a while.

Then Bright spoke.

"We'll be able to do it. Relax." He smiled.

Kiwi smiled back and got up.

"Let's go, then."

Bright's smile faded.

"What?"

"Well, we have no food left, and a pretty decent plan. Seems to me like we should move."

Bright contemplated it for an instant. "Yeah. I just assumed that there would be a more climactic set-off to this epic journey, right?"

Kiwi thought for a minute.

"What would you have preferred?" he asked.

"Fanfare, fireworks, some dramatic quotes."

Kiwi sat up straighter, and scrunched up his snout, so he looked extremely pompous.

"We will get to that Sapphirewing settlement," he said in an excessively deep and dramatic voice that nearly had Brightheart in splits the second Kiwi began using it.

"Indeed." Kiwi waved his closed talons back and forth, and raised his voice. He could see the effect his acting was having on Bright, and it was such a relief he couldn't help a smile landing on his face.

"We will cross these great plains, and these great mountains, and great deltas, and whatever, and we will get to that great settlement-" Bright was now openly laughing. What Kiwi was saying wasn't that funny on its own, but with the odd voice and talon waving, it became hilarious.

"We will get there, or-" here Kiwi began giggling too. "-or rest in pieces."

They both subsequently burst into raucous laughter. It was almost like all the stress that Bright had been feeling had just collapsed and dispersed. He felt- happy. Just happy.

 _I've missed this feeling._ He thought.

As he was clutching his sides, Bright noticed how Kiwi's eyes crinkled up when he laughed, and how his scales flashed gold and lavender, with obvious splotches of pink appearing on his cheeks now and then.

For quite possibly the first time, Bright noticed the small mark below Kiwi's left eye. It was tiny, but very noticeable, once you knew it was there. It was crescent in shape; no more than a nick, and had probably been caused by a branch or small stone striking him while he was flying. He _did_ mention that he had come from a rainforest- it wasn't completely implausible.

In that exact moment, Bright noticed all the little things about Kiwi. All the _other_ tiny nicks and scratches all over his lithe body; the way that the colours on Kiwi's body always seemed to return to either yellow, blue or lavender; ironic, because his name was Kiwi, and his scales were almost never that colour.

 _Where did his parents get that name from?_ He thought, as he appreciated the Rainwing's skinny, yet muscular frame. Then he looked at Kiwi's eyes, and all was clear.

The green colour of a Kiwi didn't seem that appealing to him; he thought it was too dark to look good. But looking at those eyes- no, _into_ those eyes, he couldn't imagine why he had ever thought that. The eyes were beautiful- they had shifting patches of light and dark, they sparkled even in the low light, and there was- there was a _depth_ to them, that he had never seen before. Those eyes were incredible.

They were also looking right back at him.

Immediately, Bright looked away, blushing furiously. He had been caught and he knew it.

The laughter had stopped.

After a while, Kiwi cleared his throat and said, "We should set out."

"Yeah." Bright agreed, still not looking him in the eyes. Something was different- there was a feeling, a desire- a spark deep inside his chest. It felt good; but in a dangerous way, like sitting so close to a fire that you knew you were going to burn.

"You coming?" Kiwi asked. He had gone to the cave entrance, ready to leave.

Bright looked into those eyes, and found nothing but compassion, understanding, and maybe- just maybe- something more.

The feeling in his chest jumped up into his throat when Kiwi smiled at him. And then expanded to fill up the rest of his body.

"Yeah." He said, climbing out with him. He didn't look back.

The spark inside his heart ignited.

And his body blazed.

~ _"I've been, staring at the edge of the water, for, like two days…."_ ~

Shimmer awoke to the sight of Longsnout in front of her cage once more.

"Hey." She said, getting up and rubbing her eyes. She opened them and gasped.

Longsnout's entire left eye was one huge bruise. The scales around it were back and blue- the pupil was irritated and watering.

"Hey." He said, attempting to smile. It didn't make her any less concerned.

"How did this happen, Longsnout?" she asked.

"What happen?" Longsnout asked innocently, as if hoping that she wouldn't ask him more questions.

That didn't happen.

"Your bruise, Longsnout." She said. "The one around your eye? Does it hurt?"

Longsnout sighed deeply.

"Yes." The dragonet was trying to hide it, but tears were gathering in his eyes.

"Oh, you poor thing." Shimmer said, wishing she could reach through the bars and embrace him.

"You should get some ice or cold water and splash it on there. Or- even better- get a canteen full of cold water."

He nodded and ran off, wiping away tears.

Shimmer felt for the dragonet- and felt especially bad because she knew that it was probably his interaction with her that had caused the altercation. But she couldn't bring herself to send the dragonet away. She told herself that it was because he wouldn't react well to being pushed away by her, but deep down she knew that the dragonet reminded her way too much of Kiwi when he had been that age.

Soon, the dragonet returned with a camel-skin canteen full of seawater. He sat down, poured some water into his hand, and splashed it over his bad eye.

"No, no." Shimmer said. "Press the entire canteen against your eye."

The Silverwing did as she asked, and sighed in relief when the pain receded.

"Thanks." He said, and smiled lopsidedly.

Shimmer could feel the tears building up behind her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Longsnout asked, his head cocked to one side.

"Yeah." Shimmer said sadly.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked.

Shimmer was suddenly aware of the wetness on her cheeks, and the blur in her vision.

"Oh, it's fine." She attempted. "It's just-"

She choked on the words.

To his credit, Longsnout didn't say anything like 'It'll be fine' or 'be happy'; he just extended a single talon through the bars.

Shimmer smiled and took the talon.

And they sat like that for a while.

Soon, though, he retracted the talon and stood up. "I have to go." He said.

"Alright." She smiled. "Goodbye!"

He smiled back at her, and then ran off.

Shimmer lay down. There was barely anybody around.

But in ten minutes, that had changed.

She was alerted to a crowd of dragons running towards her via the sounds of many footfalls. They approached her cage with haste.

"Hello?" she yelled out as they came into view. It was a group of five Silverwings, and they all looked incredibly annoyed.

"We were told that you deny being a Sapphirewing?" one of them said, coming up to her.

"Yes!" she said. "I'm a Rainwing, from a continent across the sea."

"Yeah?" one of them asked. "Then why are your scales blue?"

Shimmer looked down and noticed that her scales were all a mix between light blue, and various shades of green, that seemed to mix to make sapphire.

"No, no!" she protested. "My scales change colour because of my mood. See?"

She thought back to when she saw Longsnout's wound. In an instant, her scales were glowing a blood red.

"See?" she began to say, but was cut off by gasps from the crowd, and dragons shouting "She's gonna use her magic!"

 _What?_ She thought before a large stone hit her right between the eyes and knocked her senseless.

"Finish the job!" she heard someone shout as she struggled to get up.

Shimmer then felt an immense pain. And then everything went black.

~ Suddenly: In Pyrrhia! ~

"So, how long has it been?" Tsunami asked Qibli. "Two months? Three? A year?"

"A few weeks, tops." Qibli responded. "But still- I'M BACK!"

"And you're wreaking havoc already." Moon said, observing the large object Qibli had just knocked over. It had been in the hallway, propped up against a wall, and with the flourish of wings that came with Qibli's proclamation of 'I'm back!', it was now on the ground. Sunny came over to inspect it as Tsunami massaged her forehead.

"Sorry." Qibli said, looking a bit sheepish.

"Ah, no harm done." Sunny declared.

"What is that? And why was it just lying around?" Qibli asked.

"It's a cello." Tsunami said. "We're better equipping our music room, since it didn't really have that many instruments before. We found this, a piano, some other stuff too. And all the strings are made of leaf-fibre! I didn't expect that."

After a small pause, she added "It was lying there because there was no more room in the music room. We're going to have to make it bigger."

 _Oh._ Qibli realised.

"Anyways, back to class for the two of you." Tsunami continued. "Although considering the time of day, I suppose it's to the prey centre with you two. Go on."

"We _do_ have some information we need to share with you." Moon said.

"Walk with me." Tsunami began walking in the direction of the prey centre. Moon and Qibli had to jog to keep up with her long and fast-paced strides.

"Well, we recently found out about a Lost Continent. A continent on the other side of the planet from us, that Clearsight apparently went to after the whole Darkstalker thing." Qibli began.

"Yeah." Moon continued. "So, when I went to the Sand Kingdom, I found out from a contact that a species of dragon we had never seen before had landed on the continent…"

As they walked to the centre, Moon and Qibli told her all about Fireclaw, and the war she had been a part of. They also explained that they had informed all the Queens, and that there would probably be a summit to decide whether they should intervene or not.

"Moons." Tsunami exclaimed as they neared the cavern. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you also have a prophecy."

"Well, actually…"

Qibli and Moon laughed as Tsunami groaned loudly enough that most of the passing dragons cast a glance her way.

~ On the other side of the prey centre ~

"Wow. What happened to you two?" Pike asked, one eye trained on Anemone, who was currently trying to chat up Tamarin.

"Webs." Green said. Blue had buried his head under his wings and was groaning loudly. He hadn't thought that learning the history of Pyrrhia would be _that_ boring. I mean, dragons exaggerated all the time. And Webs seemed interesting. And the history cave seemed fine.

But it _was_. _IT WAS._ And they were currently only a few hundred years past the scorching. There was still so. Much. Left.

"Yeah. His heart is in the right place. Nothing else, though." Pluto added. He was sitting near a pile of bananas, munching on one quite contentedly. When Green had asked him why he wasn't eating meat with the other Nightwings, he had simply responded, "I'm vegan. Also, I hate other Nightwings."

"Hey look, Moon's back!" somebody yelled from across the room. Green looked up and noticed it was a young Seawing, with dark green scales. She looked across the room and-

Blue had been trying to get a nap when he had heard Green yelp, followed by a thud that must've been her hitting the floor. He opened one eye.

"What happened?"

"You remember those dragons that were in the room when we were talking to Queen Glory?" she whispered.

He was immediately alert.

"What about them?"

"They're here!" she said, biting her talons. "And if they see us…"

Blue could tell what would happen in that situation. They needed to move.

"Right guys, I feel a headache coming on, so I'm gonna go to the cave and lie down." He announced.

"I'm gonna go do that too." Green said, and they then proceeded to run out through one of the many exits.

Pluto watched their departure with interest. So did Pike and Anemone. After a minute, Tamarin spoke up.

"Did they just run out?"

"Yup."

"Did they run out after a suspiciously shifty conversation?"

"Yup."

"Did they just run out after giving us a rubbish excuse?"

"Yup."

Tamarin thought for a moment, and then turned to Anemone.

"Who just entered the room?"

Anemone looked around.

"I think it was Moon and Qibli." She said after a while

Pike and Pluto looked at each other, and then at Tamarin, who pondered for a minute, and then shrugged.

"We all have skeletons in our closets." She said, and then resumed chatting with Anemone. So did Pike and Pluto.

Everything was fine.

Or so it seemed.

~ In the hallway outside ~

"Calm down, Green. Just breathe. Breathe. _Breathe._ "

Those were the sounds of Blue trying to stop Green from hyperventilating.

Eventually, her breathing slowed down to normal, and she clutched her head in her talons.

"Those two are students here?" she said in disbelief.

"Apparently." Blue said tiredly. "They must've been the _adventurous_ type that Tsunami was so worried we'd be."

" _So what do we do?"_ Green whispered loudly, mindful of the entrance they had just escaped from.

"Lay low?" Blue responded as if he was asking a question.

" _But we're in the same mountain as them!"_ Green whisper-yelled ( **Mini Mini A/N: that's a thing, right?** )

"Okay, I have no idea what we do." Blue admitted.

Green sighed. "Why do we have so many problems?"

Blue smiled. "Relax. We thought we were screwed back in Pantala, remember? We got through that. We'll go with the flow. It'll work out."

They smiled at each other. And then, truly in form with having 'so many problems', a voice asked "Pantala?"

Green yelped as Blue whirled to face the owner of the voice. It was Pluto.

~ Back in the prey centre about 45 seconds ago ~

Pluto had been chatting to Pike about the best way to cultivate seaweed in freshwater (as it turned out, Pike had a secret love for gardening), when Anemone suddenly ran off.

"Gotta go bye!" Pike said, before leaping over a pile of oranges and knocking over a cart full of oxen in his haste to catch up to her.

"My cabbages!" a voice exclaimed.

Pluto grinned, but it soon faded. He looked across the room to the cavern the two newcomers- Blue and Green- had exited from. Normally, he would be excited for the opportunity to meet new dragons; especially since one of them seemed to absolutely love reading. But there was a problem.

 _Tell or don't tell? Tell or don't tell?_ Kept circling around in his head. The voices were very slowly growing agitated.

 _Tell them!_ One of the voices whispered, the sound slimy and thick. _Use what you know to blackmail them! Do it!_

He slowly opened his eye.

 _Well, the world isn't dark._ He sighed with relief. _I'm still in control._

Another voice passed closer. This one was softer, more like a light breeze. _No, tell Tsunami and the others. They'll know what to do! And then you'll be trusted even more!_

The voices clamoured for attention.

 _Tattle on them!_

 _NO! Keep yourself safe!_

 _No, go back to the Rainforest!_

He sighed and stopped paying attention. The voices would be outraged like this for a while, until they eventually settled down and went back to simply whispering from afar.

Pluto hadn't yet found a way to get rid of them. But he didn't really need to. If they distracted him, he had a way of tuning them out. And they drowned out the thoughts of all the dragons around him.

He thought back to his childhood. His mother had always kept him away from the other dragonets, but every time he had gone near them, he had always heard their thoughts about _That weird little dragonet._ Until the- he shuddered- _incident._ After that, the thoughts of all other dragons had just been drowned out by the cursing and screaming inside his head. He'd never heard the thoughts of another dragon.

 _Until her._

He had just woken up, nice and disoriented. His head hurt really badly, and he was sure he had hit it on the ledge above his bed.

 _For the third goddamned time this week._ He thought grumpily.

There were noises coming from the front of the room, including Clay talking in his normally peppy tone.

"…Nightwing Hybrids. With parents who were also hybrids." One of them said.

That's when he'd heard a thud, similar to something being dropped on the cave floor.

And then the voice he had just been hearing started up again. But this time it was only inside his head.

 _Wow,_ the voice had began. _That's it? Wow, they must've taken a beating. Who are these guys? My goodness, look at that scar. And that other scar! All these scars must've really hurt to get…_

Slowly, Pluto got out of bed, and stood up. It was weird. Normally, the whispering drowned out all thoughts of other dragons. But not this one. It was like her thoughts were way too loud.

 _Why is that Nightwing staring at me? Why are his eyes orange? Does he see through my lie? Ohmigod, can't Nightwings read minds? Distract him! Scrolls, scrolls, scrolls, this isn't working. Wait, I can just make him think I'm not thinking what I'm thinking!_

At this, the Green dragon had began staring him down.

 _You don't hear my thoughts. You hear none of my thoughts. You hear none of my thoughts..._

Eventually, once the voices had grown loud enough to drown her out, he extended a talon.

"Hello. I'm Pluto." He had said.

 _This should be interesting._

He grinned. That had been fun.

He got up and gave the cavern a good look-over. Moon and Qibli had left. That probably meant that Blue and Green could come back inside.

He went into the hallway towards their cave to call them. It wouldn't hurt to let them know that he was onto them.

"…thought we were screwed back in Pantala, remember?" a voice around the next corner said. "We got through that. We'll go with the flow. It'll work out."

He stepped around the corner and found none other than Blue and Green.

He cleared his throat.

"Pantala?" he asked.

They turned around to look at him.

He stared right back.

It was starting to get a bit awkward.

"Moon and Qibli are gone." He said nonchalantly.

"Who the hell are Moon and Qibli?' Blue asked.

"Those dragons you were trying to avoid." Pluto said. "They left. You can come back now."

Green stared right at him, and he got the distinct feeling she was concentrating hard.

And then suddenly, right inside his head, he heard, over the general whispering…

 _Oh fuck._

~ Back inside that cave that is _somewhere_ ~

"I've always had a flair for the dramatic." A voice said from the darkness.

The outline of a figure appeared. It was a dragon. But not a very large one- kind of moderate-sized. It was more the size of a dragonet than a dragon, in fact.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've talked to another living being?" the dragon said to the ground.

"I do, actually, but it looks like you're going to tell me anyway." the ground said, before it was cut off by the dragon.

"TEN YEARS!" it yelled, and roared.

"It's actually been three weeks, but whatever." The ground said. It was ignored.

"RAAARGHHHH-* _cough, cough*"_ it said. "Allergies."

"Here." The ground said, tossing it what looked like a small stone. "It's small, but it'll help. Rosie sends her love, by the way."

The dragon looked the object over, revealing it to be a microscopic canteen. "I appreciate the thought, but this wouldn't help a moth!"

"Oh, just uncork it already, you buffoon." The ground exclaimed.

So the dragon did.

"Crikey, that's a bit ripe." He said, holding it away from his snout.

"Keep it near your nose. That's the only way that'll help."

"Aww, but it smells disgusting!" the dragon said, fanning the air around him.

"Well, it's good for your allergies. Stick it up your snout." The ground said.

The dragon pouted and threw the mini-canteen ( **that was my attempt at a pun (mini-me))** to the ground.

"Do it, you stubborn arse."

"Won't."

"For goodness sake, you're a grown dragon! Take your bloody medicine!"

"Shan't."

"You idiot." The ground grumbled, and then a tiny figure ran up the dragon's talon.

"No, you don't." the dragon said, but it was too slow in trying to shake it off.

"THERE YOU ARE!" the figure yelled as it got to the dragon's snout and stuck the canteen into one of its nostrils.

The dragon roared, and attempted to remove the canteen using his talons, but it didn't help.

"You madman!" he said, attempting to glare at the scavenger now sitting on his nose. It didn't work- it just made him look cross-eyed.

"You could've killed me!" he exclaimed.

"Killed you?" the scavenger asked. " _You_ could've killed _me_!"

"I liked Rosie better." The dragon admitted, throwing himself to the ground. The scavenger leaped off before the dragon impacted the ground and tucked and rolled to avoid injury. He got up, dusted himself off, and turned to face him.

"Yeah, but she's in that research facility now, remember?" the scavenger reminded him.

"Yeah. She did what all ladies I've met in my life have done." The dragon said, self-pity evident in his voice.

"Left me for a younger dragon."

"She's only there because it'd break Winter's heart if she were to run away. You know that." The scavenger tried to console him.

"Stop trying to coddle me." The dragon said, getting up and going over to another bit of the cave. "I'm a grown dragon. I can handle it."

"Well, you clearly can't!" the scavenger laughed, hurrying to keep up with him.

"Yeah, yeah." He said. They walked in silence for a while, and then the scavenger spoke.

"Feel better?"

"No." the dragon said petulantly.

"C'mon! You can't just _say_ that your medicine doesn't help even if it does! That's cheating!"

"I actually feel worse-" the dragon began, trying to alter his voice to make it sound as if his nose was blocked, but before he could do that the scavenger had ran up again, and pulled the canteen out of his nose.

"There, ya big baby. Happy now?"

The dragon laughed. "Yeah."

The scavenger sighed, tossed the canteen away, and lay down.

"How _did_ we end up as friends?" he asked.

"Well, we both have crushes on Rosie." The dragon said, attempting to roll onto his back like the scavenger, but failing.

"There's that. And both our families were murdered by dragons." The scavenger said.

"Yeah. But," the dragon said, getting up and moving towards another corner of the cave, "the main reason would be our master plan to take down the Silverwings, wouldn't it?"

"Ah, you see, I don't know about that." The scavenger said. "I think the main reason is the crush."

"Nah. The main reason is our odd habit of eating grapes at precisely sunset."

"Really?"

"No. Made that up. Anyways, ta-da!"

The dragon stopped in front of a large pile of scrolls.

"Bit behind on your spring cleaning, eh?" the scavenger asked, scampering to the top of the pile.

"No. This is my stack of," the dragon made his voice suave, " _many things_."

"So, I assume that the plan that you told me you had is somewhere in here?" the scavenger kicked a scroll off the top.

"No. This _is_ the plan that I told you I had."

"What? All of it?"

"Exactly. You're going to have to read through all of these scrolls to uncover mah genius."

"What are they, in alphabetical order?"

"They're numbered." The dragon replied, unable to hide a grin.

"You've don't this on purpose, haven't you?"

"Yup." The dragon said, popping the 'p'.

"You are terrible. _And_ your face is stupid." The scavenger said, before sliding to the bottom of the pile and picking up the scroll he had kicked down. It had one word on it, and a tiny number in the upper right-hand corner.

"Right then." He said, rubbing his hands together.

"One." He said, as he picked a scroll up, read the number and tossed it aside accordingly. "Two." He repeated as he did the same with another.

"Three."

"Five."

 **Second A/N: This entire scene exists just because one of my friends who may or may not plan on reading this accused me of having a thing for dragons who are like x60 times my size. She also told me that I shipped these huge dragons with humans. For that friend- this closing discussion was for you! I was true to form! I shipped a dragon and a human, and I didn't keep them the same size! Oh yeah! oh yeah! *dances clumsily*. I'm so happy.**

 **Second P.S.: The scavenger looks and sounds exactly like Richard Hammond, in case anybody is wondering. Guess who the dragon is supposed to be! (Really guess- there are only two options, I've already used up one of 'em and the one who's left is famous for usage of the term "made that up".)**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **A/N: I really have no idea how dragon ages work. So, here you are-**

 **The dragonets of destiny are like 18-20. Literally all the other dragons are between 14 and 18 (with Moon, Qibli and Winter being 16, Turtle and Kinkajou being 14 and 15 respectively, and so on). Except Thorn and Smoulder and Shimmer, who are like 30. And Longsnout is like 11. And those guys from the last scene of chapter 3 are 25-30. In human years.**

 **I say this because according to the Wings of Fire wiki, Ochre is 20. Like, wtf. No. Ochre is 16 (going on 17!)(get it?)(GET IT?)(in human years). Otherwise, my weird ass ship won't work. And you're worried, don't- it's non-canon and weird.**

 **Also, in my last chapter, Tamarin says that Flame tried to kill Morrowseer. (Mistake has been rectified by now.) No. Morrowseer is dead. Flame tried to kill Stonemover. I got them mixed up.**

 **Take this as a lesson, kids. Don't do last minute exam prep. It's not cool. It'll only make you forget obvious stuff. Like the fact that MORROWSEER IS DEAD ALREADY. AND FLAME TRIED TO KILL STONEMOVER. A DIFFERENT GUY. Damn.**

 **Also, this chapter sees the introduction of another OC! His name is Firestorm, and, well…**

 **Basically, he is introduced. As in, he appears in a scene. More introduction will have to wait for the next chapter. Sorry, Firestorm 453.**

 **But enough about me. Meet: me!**

 **Musical side of me: Indeed. Listen to this exact song- 'Prophecy (Guitar Cover by Lukasz Kapuscinski)' by Adrian von Ziegler in all the Sand Kingdom scenes. Then, when we shift to Green's perspective, go ahead and pop on 'I Wouldn't Mind' by He is We. It's amazing. As the scene in the Friendship cave begins, start playing 'Hallowed Ground' by Bishop Briggs. And finally, for the last scene, just search 'Dramatic Violin Music' on the internet. It's short enough that that's probably all you need.**

 **P.S.: What writing utensils do dragons use? I'm having a spot of bother finding some.**

~ In the palace in the Sand Kingdom ~

High noon in the Sand Kingdom was truly a sight to behold.

The sun shone down hard, almost superheating the sand. Everything left outside became too hot to touch. Beyond the palace walls, where the desert stretched far as the eye could see, the air rose in waves, distorting the surroundings.

The palace itself was built from a porous limestone that allowed it to be relatively cooler inside. The many windows and ingenious air circulation system helped keep the temperature down too.

 _Still fucking boiling._

A Sandwing with scales the colour of the sun rose from her chair.

"Shit." She cursed as her bad leg, bandaged so tightly she could barely move it, bumped against the desk, causing a small amount of water to fall out of a pitcher placed atop it.

She quickly caught the pitcher to stop its wobbling, but the damage was done. One of the scrolls had a gigantic water stain on it, smudging the ink to the point where it could not be read.

She sighed, taking the scroll in her talons. That had been an hour's work.

The black lines tattooed along her torso flexed as she lunged for her window, arm outstretched.

"AARGH!" She threw the scroll out, and then gasped as pain shot up her leg.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit." She chanted as she hobbled over to the window ledge. She fell onto it, massaging the limb. Grabbing the pitcher of tea that sat next to her bed, and swallowing it whole, she grimaced at the bitter taste.

Jet black eyes scanned the courtyard.

A small group of Sandwing dragonets had decided to brave the heat, and were playing in the palace gardens. The trees obstructed her vision, but they appeared to be passing around a small ball.

The sounds of giggling could barely reach her ears, but whenever one of the dragonets shouted something, the sound travelled.

 _They seem to be having fun._ She thought to herself.

Suddenly, a Skywing dragonet appeared in one of the courtyard entrances. She seemed to be too shy to approach the group of Sandwings by herself.

"Hey!" one of them called out. The Skywing dragonet froze in fear.

"You gonna join in or not?" the Sandwing dragonet asked.

Cheering commenced as the Skywing dragonet smiled and joined in to the game.

She frowned.

 _Interesting._

She sipped some more herbal tea. It tasted like cactus juice mixed with urine, but she had been assured that it would help with the pain.

The door behind her opened, followed by the jangling of many keys.

She sighed audibly.

"Onyx?" a voice she had only known for two weeks, but that had already imprinted itself onto her mind, said.

She turned slightly, confirming what she already knew.

Black eyes. Like hers. Golden scales. Like hers. Patterns of black over the wings. Like hers.

Yes, the family resemblance was uncanny.

Onyx wished it wasn't.

"Ah, out of bed early, I see." Prince Smoulder said, coming over to sit beside her. "How's the leg?"

"Better." She said, and hesitated. As far as she could see it, there were two options here. Have a normal conversation, or, well…

"No thanks to you." She added quickly.

Onyx smiled as she felt Smoulder stiffen against her side.

"Anything troubling you?" she asked innocently, the steel in her voice apparent.

The ex-prince sighed. "You know I had no other choice."

"How is that even _remotely true_?" Onyx yelled, turning to face her father.

Smoulder was looking right back at her. Even as she was raging, she couldn't help but admire how her father stood his ground; even if what he had done was completely indefensible.

 _Maybe he isn't that much of a coward._ She thought, and then stopped because _he is the enemy remember that._

"You would have _killed_ Thorn if I hadn't done that!" he shouted.

"So you crippled me for life?" she asked with false incredulity. They had been having this argument every morning since the _incident_ , and it always ended with one of them in tears.

Today wasn't going to be any different.

"I can't walk, Smoulder." She said matter of factedly ( **that's a word, right?** ). "I will never be able to walk normally for the rest of my life. Everywhere I go, whomsoever I meet, they will know me for who I am, thanks to you."

Smoulder said nothing. Sensing weakness, Onyx got right up in his face.

"How did you even know I would kill Thorn?" she asked him. "Was that really the price you were willing to gamble? Your _own daughter's life?"_

"Yes." Smoulder said, looking right at her with nary a waver in his voice.

The answer hung in the air. Onyx was reeling- Smoulder had never given her a straightanswer to that question before.

"Now, I need to go. Thorn will be visiting you in about twenty minutes."

Smoulder got up and left. Even though he had tried to hide it, she had shaken him _badly._

She had won.

So why didn't it feel like it?

 _Damned coward._ Onyx thought, turning her attention back towards the dragonets. They were so happy. Carefree.

Unlike her.

Her eyes stung. She quickly wiped away at them and looked over to the side.

 _What's wrong with me?_

A scroll fell off her desk. She must've forgotten to hold it down using her may paperweights.

Her room was large by her standards, but small by any other. That didn't bother her much- there was a study table along the left side of the room, a door next to that, and her bed was against the right side. A small bedside table and wicker chair were all the furnishings she had been provided. The window spanned the entire wall.

 _Nice of them to put me in the room with the most gigantic window, knowing that I can't close it without help._

She sighed, dragged herself back to her desk and sat down to continue her work- which was, at the moment, trying to figure out what she should do with Vulture's property. Courtesy of Thorn.

 _Thorn._

She growled as she nearly bent her writing utensil in half. ( **See what I mean?** )

The queen was crafty; she had to admit. Since Onyx had been so adamant that she would be a better queen than Thorn, she had been assigned the task of figuring out what should be done with all that stuff that her former partner in crime, Vulture, had left behind. And there was a _lot_ of stuff.

 _Damnit, where did_ that _scroll go?_ She thought, and then grabbed it off the edge of the desk. It had been a second away from falling off. She frowned as she read over another one of the scrolls; it listed all of Vulture's assets and possible inheritors.

 _Well, all of those are also wanted criminals,_ she thought, skimming over the names she had marked in red. _The only one left is… Qibli?_

She blinked.

 _Wow._ That's _unexpected._

At that exact moment, Thorn walked in.

"Hello, your highness." Onyx said. "You're early."

"How many times must I ask you to call me Thorn?" Thorn asked, sitting next to her while expertly ignoring Onyx's remark about her arrival.

"Fine, Queen Thorn." Onyx replied. "I would bow to you, but…"

Thorn sighed. "Whatever. Have you figured out what to do with Vulture's estate?"

"Well, I know many, _many_ merchants who will pay good money for _these_ exotic items," she chucked a scroll at Thorn. "and others who are stupid enough that they'll believe that this stuff is 24-carat gold-" another scroll was tossed to Thorn. "And, of course, all the rest of these items can be distributed either equally or based on need amongst the people of the scorpion den. Now, the property itself is absolutely massive, and contains many creature comforts. We can get rid of all these golden objects- and by the way, who has a golden lavatory? I was working with an idiot. Point is, all the weird rubies and all embedded in the walls go here-" another scroll. "All the furniture goes here-" another scroll. "All the weapons and booby traps go here-" yet another scroll. "And all the animals go free. And that just leaves the land and the bare bones of the building. Now, ideally, this bit would go to the next of kin, but they're all criminals. Except, far as I can tell, Qibli. So, I guess you could ask him what to do with the property. That'll be it."

Onyx turned to face Thorn.

The queen was looking at her as if she had just sprouted antlers. The scrolls lay on the ground around her. She hadn't even attempted to catch them.

"Queen Thorn!" Onyx moaned. "I spent time on those!"

No reaction. Thorn continued to stare at her.

"What?" Onyx asked. "Did someone paint on my face again?"

"How do you know all of this?" Thorn blurted out.

Onyx blinked. And then decided to milk the moment.

"Surprised, are you?" she asked Thorn with a smirk.

"Yes!" Thorn replied. She grabbed one of the scrolls off the ground and read through it.

"Some of these merchants are people I've been chasing my entire life! How do you know where they are? How do you even know what merchandise they accept?"

Thorn seemed to be having an existential crisis. Onyx decided to comfort her the only way she knew how.

"Let me put it this way, your highness- I spent most of my life either on the run, interacting with none but my mother and shady merchants, or getting beaten up by dragonets who had it better than me. Because of that, I usually had to scavenge through piles of rubbish around rich households to get food. _That's_ how I know exactly who to go to in order to sell all this rubbish off, and how to get the best price, and the only thing that will be left after I've done that is the property. Please, ask Qibli what he would like to do with it."

"He did want an orphanage established there." Thorn said, still in shock.

"Of course he did." Onyx mumbled. "Well, go on then. If you want to follow this plan, you _will_ have to arrange a stretcher for me, because I still can't walk properly, and most of these traders will only talk to me and not your cronies. Bye!"

Thorn looked closely at her. "Onyx, I never really doubted it, but you are much, _much_ smarter than you let on."

"It's a skill." Onyx said, ignoring the pleasure that came with a compliment like that. _Bad emotions! You need to hate her!_ "Now, please leave."

"I'll be seeing you in a while, Onyx." Thorn said, picking up all the scrolls and leaving the room.

Onyx simply sighed and went over to her window once more.

The dragonets had stopped playing. The sun was rising higher in the sky.

She went over to her bed and flopped down on it.

 _If only…_ she thought as she slipped into a restless sleep.

 _If only I were free._

~ Back in Jade Mountain ~

 _Oh fuck._ Green thought.

 _He knows. He knows it all. IT ALL. Oh my- how did I even allow this to happen? Why am I such an absolute idiot? Why can't I do anything right-_

 _No._

She focused all her energy on Pluto, who looked like he had been hit by a truck.

 _You saw nothing, you saw nothing, you saw nothing…_

Her vision swam in and out of focus. Her heart was beating so fast she could feel it and suddenly-

She couldn't breathe.

Her mouth gaped open, but no air came in.

She could hear Blue yelling, but it sounded far away. She didn't need to do much, just go to sleep and-

 _Breathe in._

 _Out._

 _In._

 _Out._

 _In-_

She gasped and shot up.

"Green!" a voice yelled, and before she knew it, someone had their wings around her.

"B-Blue?" she asked.

"Yeah." The dragon said, choking up slightly.

"What happened?" she asked, just then noticing how much her head hurt.

"You just started hyperventilating, and then you stopped breathing." He said, tears pooling up in his eyes.

"I thought I'd lost you." He admitted.

She hugged him, as he tried to wipe away his tears, but eventually just gave up.

They stayed like that for a while, until he pulled away.

"Where are we?" Green asked, noticing the unfamiliar surroundings.

"In our cave." Blue said. "It's where I had to bring you after you fainted. I was going to go find someone to help, and then you woke up."

"Oh." She said. And then a voice cleared its throat.

She whipped her head around to find Pluto.

 _OH MY-_ her mind began, but before it could finish that thought, Pluto interrupted.

"Stop thinking!" he yelled, holding his head in pain. "Please, never EVER think like that again."

"Oh yeah." Blue said. "I had to bring him along too. _Apparently_ ," he rolled his eyes, "he has such a huge migraine that he can't stand without somebody to help him out."

Green looked right at him.

 _HELLO!_ She yelled in her mind.

"Oh for- STOP!" Pluto yelled. "Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Blue asked. A glance revealed that he knew it was probably her trying to project her thoughts, but he was playing along for the benefit of Pluto.

"Yeah, think at _that_ volume. Not louder than that. I _beg_ you." Pluto said.

Green and Blue turned to simultaneously look at him.

 _You can still hear me think?_ Green thought.

"Yes." Pluto said.

Blue gasped. "You're a mind reader!"

Pluto glared at him. "Nope."

Blue looked confused.

"What?"

Pluto leaned back. "Can't read your mind. Or the mind of any other dragon. Only hers."

"That's… interesting." Blue said, looking over at Green.

Green caught his gist.

"Any specific reason why you can only read my thoughts?" she asked.

"Far as I can tell, you just have exceptionally loud thoughts." He said. "And I think it only works when you're looking right at me."

"Wait- so that means…" Green turned to look at Blue.

"YES! OOOOOoooooooooooooooohhhhhh! So, so, SO MUCH BETTER!" Pluto yelled.

"So, all I need to do is not look at you, and you can't read my mind?" Green asked.

"Yup." Pluto said gleefully. "You have no idea how loud your thoughts were."

Green decided to test it out.

 _So, you can't hear this?_ She thought.

Nothing.

 _CAN YOU HEAR THIS?_ She yelled.

"Damnit, it's back!" Pluto screamed.

Blue leaned in and whispered into Green's ear. "Are you projecting your thoughts?"

"Yes." Green whispered.

They simultaneously turned to glare at Pluto.

"Don't look at me!" he screamed, holding his hands in front of his eyes as if shielding himself from the sun.

And then Green realised something.

"So… ummm… what did you hear?" she asked tentatively.

"Well. I know you're not Rainwing/Nightwing hybrids, and that you're not siblings." He said simply.

Blue looked at him in shock.

"Oh, relax." Pluto said. "I'm pretty sure even the others know that."

"THAT'S NOT REASSURING." Green declared, as she put her head in her talons.

"It's not like I'm going to tell anybody." Pluto said. "We all have skeletons in our closets."

As he said it, Pluto grimaced. He looked as if he had swallowed an unripe mango whole.

"Pluto?" Blue asked. "Your face has gone all funny."

Pluto blinked, shook his head and faced him. "Sorry. That happens sometimes. Anyways, I'll be taking your leave. Also- we have our session in the friendship cave up next. Be there in five!"

Pluto then left the cave, leaving Green and Blue to stare at the entrance from where he had left.

"So, that just happened." Blue said, turning to face her.

"Yeah…" Green trailed off, and then shook her head. "So, what do we know about him?"

"Well, he's a mind reader, but only if you, and _only you_ ,look at him."

"When you put it that way, it sounds extremely weird."

"Can't deny that." Blue admitted.

There was silence.

"Didn't you project thoughts into all our clawmates? _And_ our teachers?"

"Yup. He seems to be the only one that didn't get the memo."

"Yeah."

More silence.

"Well, we have another class next." Blue said. "Let's move."

Green looked up in surprise.

"You're not mad?" she asked.

"Why would I be mad?" he asked back.

"Well, because I failed to properly protect our identities, and now this guy has so much info on us!"

"So?" Blue said. "He doesn't seem that dangerous."

"But what if he is?" she asked.

"We'll worry about that later, okay?" he said, offering her a talon.

She smiled and took it.

~ Back in the sand kingdom ~

The palace dining room was magnificent. It was about a hundred feet long, forty feet across, was decorated tastefully with tapestries that hung on the walls, was illuminated by a gigantic chandelier that a group of Sandwings lit every night, had a gigantic table right in the centre, and enough chairs for all the staff and occupants of the compound. Onyx generally took her evening meals here with Thorn and the rest of the palace. The queen would generally be sitting at one end of the table; Onyx the other.

That's why it was so surprising to find that apparently, today, she got the _honour_ of dining with Thorn and Smoulder in private.

"Honour, my ass _._ "Onyx grumbled. "It's going to be the worst night of my life."

Although she couldn't really focus much on what would happen _at_ the dinner; after all, _getting_ to it was quite the challenge already. The news had been delivered via several Sandwings with a stretcher; but she had refused them and was walking to the meeting instead.

At the rate of about one mile an hour.

Her leg hurt _so badly,_ but she wouldn't stop.

Also, that group of Sandwings was still following her around. And if she collapsed in front of them; well, that would just about be the last blow to her pride.

She turned into a small hallway. Two dragonets came barrelling down it, forcing her to flatten herself against the wall to avoid being hit.

"Sorry!" one of them yelled as they passed her.

"It's late!" one of her Sandwing guards called out. "Go home!"

Home.

Where their parents were.

Where they were safe.

 _Damnit._ She thought, as her mind suddenly decided that she needed all of her 'Greatest Failures' played back to her.

The day that her mother had died, and she had almost immediately lost everything she owned.

That day that she had killed another Sandwing in self-defence.

The day that she had refused to join Thorn.

The day that she had let Vulture fool her.

The day that her own father had crippled her, because he chose his Queen over his daughter.

Onyx could feel wetness on her cheeks and told herself to ignore it. If the security detail asked, it was just sweat.

All her life, Onyx had dealt with people who found pleasure in pushing others down. In hurting them. Causing them pain. To avoid that, she had made herself completely expressionless. She barely showed her emotions.

And in doing that, she had become exactly what she had once hated.

As she rounded another corner, Onyx tripped over a stone. She toppled over and bashed her snout against the ground.

"NO!" she screamed, holding out her talon to deter the Sandwings from helping her up. She didn't need to look to see that they were about to. That was what they saw her as.

Weak.

"No." she repeated, heaving herself to her feet. By now, it felt as if her leg was about to fall off. The good thing was, she was just a few more minutes away from the venue.

She gritted her teeth and moved onwards. And, with her slow pace, her mind once more began to wander.

These days, it really felt like she had lost everything. She had had something amazing going for her back at Jade Mountain, and she had blown it.

When she had been there, she hadn't paid that much attention to the other students. But these days, whenever the medication failed to knock her out, she stayed awake most of the night, trying to ignore the throbbing in her leg and thinking. Imagining.

Soon, she had realised how the other students in the Gold Winglet had tried to socialize with her (well, one of them had.) And she had brushed all of them off. And look where that had ended her up.

"She should've been here by now." A voice she knew well echoed from around the next corner. "I'm going to check on her."

And then Thorn, her enemy, possibly the ONE PERSONwho didn't see her as a weakling, turned the corner to find Onyx struggling to hold herself up, sweating profusely, and in so much pain that she almost wished she were dead.

"ONYX!" Thorn yelled, throwing herself towards the Sandwing to support her.

"NO!" Onyx blocked Thorn's talons. "I need to-" she took a deep breath. "-to make it on my own."

"Oh for crying out loud-" Thorn began berating the guards. By this time, Smoulder had ran out as well, and seen Onyx in all her glory.

"Why in the-" he began.

"Just stop!" Onyx screamed, causing everybody to go silent.

"Don't-" her knees were wobbling. "Don't yell at the guards. I told them not to put me on that stretcher. Or help me." She added when she saw the look on Thorn's face. It looked like she wanted to murder someone, and wasn't sure if it was going to be the guards or her.

"And- and I need to make it myself." She said. "I- I can't just be a cripple the rest of my life. The sooner everything goes back to normal, the better."

She didn't look at Smoulder when she said that, but the accusation hung in the air. The sweat was running into her eyes. It stung.

While everybody looked on, she struggled into the room and collapsed onto one of the chairs. She let out a shaky breath as Smoulder and Thorn piled in.

And then the berating began.

"You can't just do something like that! Your leg needs to heal properly!"

"It needs to set, and it can't do that without you staying still! Why are you so stubborn?"

"What do you even need to prove to yourself?"

She tuned the sounds out and revelled in the moment.

 _I made it._

~ In the friendship cave (oh joy) ~

The friendship cave had been designed to deter violence.

It had been painted all the colours of the rainbow except red. For obvious reasons.

There were stools arranged in a circle around the centre of the room, to ensure that nobody felt excluded.

There was lots of natural light- a small hole in one of the walls saw to that.

And, of course, if none of that helped calm the dragon's minds, well, the two exits at opposite ends of the cave would ensure a speedy escape route.

The cave had also been designed to be silent- cut off from the rest of the network, so to speak. Due to it's prime location- lower down in the bowels of the mountain, not many people passed by. And the only thing audible was a burbling stream, and the occupants of the cave could drown that out easily.

So there was silence.

For a whole thirty seconds.

Then there was a clamour, and a clashing of rocks, and much banging of metal, and a voice shouting over the madness-

"I WILL SODOMISE YOU WITH THE BLUNT END OF THIS _MOUNTAIN_ YOU FUCKIN-"

The voice was abruptly cut off and replaced instead by muffled and quite indignant yelling.

The dragons who were currently in the friendship cave found this less than reassuring.

"Is somebody being murdered out there?" Tamarin asked.

"I really, really, really hope not." Pike said.

The dragonets were waiting for Blue, Green and Tsunami, who appeared to be running late.

After a scream, and what sounded like the sound of air being blown through a tiny, tiny hole, Pluto spoke up.

"It sounds like somebody is being strangled out there."

"Or a dragon is slowly deflating." Tamarin added.

Pluto and Pike looked at her.

"What?" she asked after a few seconds of silence. "It does!"

Their discussion was suddenly interrupted by Blue and Green tiptoeing in.

"Do any of you guys know about the Skywing being murdered by the Mudwing outside?" Blue said as Green looked over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I'm sorry, the WHAT NOW?"

They turned to see Tsunami walk in through the other end of the cave.

"Not literally!" Blue yelled in a desperate attempt to get Tsunami to stop.

"Stay in here!" Tsunami screamed as she gunned it.

"Sunny is on top of it!" Green shouted, but Tsunami had already dropped all of her paperwork and ran into the hallway.

"That's not good." Tamarin quipped.

A few more noises came from the corridor. They weren't as worrying as the ones before, but weren't all that good either.

Then the rumbling began.

It started low, and then increased. It sounded almost exactly like a stampede.

"What's happening?" Pike asked. Blue caught his eye and shrugged.

And then- a jolt ran through the cave. It seemed not to have any effect, until the dragons turned and looked at one another.

"We're going after her, right?" Pluto asked.

"That was a given." Tamarin said, grinning.

"It's been a while since I was in a fight." Pike agreed, cracking his knuckles.

Blue and Green looked at each other.

"You in?"

"Yup."

They ran out of the entrance Tsunami had used. A turn down a deserted corridor, another through an empty cave, and they were spat out into the middle of a full-on brawl.

It seemed that the entire mountain had been squeezed into the corridor- it was a writhing mass of dragons fighting each other. It was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying- like falling off a cliff.

Immediately, Green moved to shield Tamarin, but found that it wasn't necessary, as the Rainwing sidestepped a Seawing throwing a punch and proceeded to trip up a Sandwing trying to uppercut her.

 _Impressive._ Green thought as she grabbed the heads of two Icewings rushing her from opposite sides and bashed their heads together. They fell to the ground, unconscious.

As she was doing that, Pike had run up a wall, kicked off it, flipped in mid-air and knocked out a gigantic Mudwing with a kick to the snout. He then rolled and punched another in the gut.

Blue, meanwhile, was using his tail to throw the dragons off balance, and therefore not actively injuring them.

 _Maybe I should do something like that…_ she began to think, but was interrupted by a Nightwing trying to stomp on her head.

She rolled underneath his talons and raked her talons along his stomach. He howled and collapsed on top of her.

 _Damnit!_ She thought, as she found herself trapped underneath him; out for the count. She gave up on struggling- it was just a waste of energy- and observed the most surprising fighter: Pluto.

He showed up in places she least expected. Whenever she was sure one of her winglet had failed to spot a potential attacker, he would appear and take them out efficiently.

But they were all struggling. And that made her realise that she should probably end this.

 _STOP FIGHTING!_ She thought loudly.

All the dragons froze. Well, all apart from Blue, who looked over to her in shock- _Oh yeah, we were supposed to keep this under wraps-_ and Pluto, who clutched his head and yelled, "SON OF A BISCUIT ITS BACK AGAIN! WHAT DOES THE UNIVERSE HAVE AGAINST ME? WHAT?"

The outburst had caught the attention of the assembled dragons, who were all staring at him. Green was afraid somebody was going to lynch him until Sunny stepped out of the crowd, followed by Tsunami. Both of them were covered in bruises and scratches. Tsunami held a bright red Skywing with scars all over her face in a headlock, and Sunny had wrapped her tail around an odd-looking Mudwing- he looked like he was part Skywing himself, and carrying a huge weight.

"Two questions!" Sunny yelled, and even with her diminutive stature, Green realised she could be terrifying when she wanted. She looked like she wanted to murder every single dragon in that hallway- and could, too.

"One- what the _heck_ are all of you doing?"

The words seemed to hit all the dragons like a slap.

"I- I don't know." A Sandwing off to the side admitted. He looked shell-shocked.

"Why the hell did I just do that?" an Icewing behind her asked herself.

The hallway was filled with sounds of shock and horror, echoing off the walls to create a sort of constant drone. It seemed like all the dragons were waking up from a nightmare.

"Wh-what did I do?" the Nightwing on top of her who, just a couple of seconds ago had been charging towards her screaming bloody murder, blubbered. Tears were falling out of his eyes.

Tsunami looked on in shock. "What in the world?" she wondered as the dragons in the hallway slowly gained control of themselves.

Suddenly, Green felt a weight lift off her. It was like taking a veil off- so light she hadn't noticed that it was there. The other students of the Gold Winglet looked around with expressions suggesting that the same had happened to them.

"Did I just judo-flip you?" Blue asked a random Seawing lying on the ground. The Seawing gasped, scales flashing, and responded, "Did I just toss a dagger at you?"

Blue looked at the wall behind him, where said dagger had sunk into the wall up to the hilt.

He pulled it out and handed it back to the Seawing.

"Why thank you." The Seawing said.

"You're welcome." Blue responded.

It was utter, confusing chaos.

And then, just as Green thought it couldn't get any worse-

 _BAM._

Moon and Qibli ran through the crowd with Clay and Starflight, closely followed by Fatespeaker and Peril.

And through the friendship cave came barrelling Webs.

 _Fantastic._ Green thought drily, looking over at Blue, who had a look on his face that seemed to say, _We are so, so, SO screwed._

He couldn't be more correct.

If Moon and Qibli saw them, they were done for. No chance to explain what they were to Moon and Qibli privately, or what their intentions were- all the teachers were right there. Along with most of the students.

There would be no escape.

 _Would it be bad to wish for a cave collapse?_ Green thought. _A small one._

As Qibli looked over the dragons piled in the hallway, Green made herself as small as possible and began to chant in her mind.

 _Please don't notice me please don't notice me please don't notice me._

Blue had pulled the Seawing to his legs and was now attempting to hide behind her.

 _Please don't notice us please don't notice us please don't notice us._

Qibli's sharp eyes passed right over Blue and Green. Without noticing them.

 _One out of two._

Moon had already run over to Tsunami, and was conversing with her in low tones.

 _Two out of two._ She thought, relieved. A glance at Blue showed that he was rejoicing too.

"Alright. Second question," Sunny said, causing all noise to stop.

"Who here heard a command to STOP FIGHTING in their heads?"

 _Oh shit._

~ Back in the Sand Kingdom ~

Onyx was lying in a small wicker chair; her leg in a gigantic brace. The grimace on her face revealed that she was in a large amount of pain, but she refused to say it outright. Which made the job of the Sandwing sitting opposite her just that _tiny_ bit harder.

"So, I heard about your stunt yesterday." He said.

No answer.

"Does your leg hurt?" he asked.

No answer.

"Answer me, Onyx."

"No it doesn't."

"I can tell by your expression that it very much does!" the Sandwing yelled- figuratively, of course. His yell- or as he referred to it, his outside voice, was perhaps a whisper louder than his regular voice. But that was no excuse. He therefore breathed deeply, collected himself, paid a quick visit to his happy place- a brothel in his hometown- tented his fingers, and continued in a calmer tone.

"Why would you even do something like that?"

Onyx sighed.

"Because I _wanted_ to. You can't stop me."

"But _why?_ What _possible_ reason could you have for delaying your recovery even further? After that stunt, you probably won't be able to walk straight for a year!"

"That was happening anyways!" Onyx yelled. "It happened! I did it! Just let it go!"

"I can't let it go, Onyx." The Sandwing looked at her with saddened eyes.

" _Try._ " Onyx said in a tone so menacing it would have lesser dragons running for the hills.

Not him.

The Sandwing sighed and looked at the wall across from him, behind Onyx.

A shadow moved slightly.

"We need to talk about your relationship with your family." The Sandwing began.

"I don't have a family." Onyx growled.

"Smoulder and Thorn _are_ your family." The Sandwing said.

"Sure don't act like it." Onyx mumbled, looking away.

The Sandwing sighed. "I charge by the hour. My rates are extravagant. I'm not the palace healer- I'm from the other end of the Sand Kingdom. Despite all this, your mother agreed to _host me here,_ the _former royal quarters-_ " the Sandwing gestured to his extravagant surroundings- a room coloured gold, furnished in mostly carved pine furniture- hard to come by in the desert- with a view to die for. "-until you got better."

"She can spare the money." Onyx said, but she seemed unsure about herself.

"My expenses actually coming out of her own savings, not the royal coffers." The Sandwing admitted. "Even Smoulder is chipping in."

Onyx bristled at the mention of her 'father'.

The Sandwing sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Your father told me about your past."

"HE HAD NO RIGHT-" Onyx began, but was cut off by the Sandwing.

"He also told me what he had to do to you to get you to stop challenging Thorn."

That took the wind right out of Onyx's sails.

"He- he _what?_ "

"He told me all about it. He was certain that you would challenge Thorn again- and the Eye of Onyx would choose her and kill you. That's why he dropped that rock on your leg. He did it to protect you. Nothing else."

"He _crippled me for LIFE!_ "

"And if he hadn't, you would be dead."

"AAARGH!"

Onyx put her head in her talons. She was maybe a few seconds away from cracking.

Two options- ease her into a confession, or possibly permanent psychological trauma?

 _She'll get over it._ He justified, and continued.

"You're not dead, Onyx. Thanks only to your father. Do you understand?"

"Better dead than to live life in shame, alright!" Onyx screamed, snapping her head up to glare at him.

"I _know_ how stupid I was. I _know_ that I tried to end the _one good thing_ to happen to this kingdom in centuries! I was an absolute idiot! Sure, Vulture manipulated me. But that's not important! It was still all my fault! I thought that I would reclaim the throne. I thought it would get rid of all my failures, all of my misgivings, EVERYTHING! And guess what?" Onyx was crying, but she didn't stop.

"No matter what I do, it ends in misery. I was crippled by my own father. And now, every _single_ time I walk around the palace, I'm laughed at." Onyx changed her voice. She now sounded remarkably like Princess, a dragon working at the aforementioned brothel. She was such a fashionista gossiper. She was his favourite, actually...

The Sandwing shook his head and diverted his attention back to his patient.

"'Look at her, she tried to kill Thorn'. 'Look at her, she didn't know what she was doing.' 'Look at her, she can't walk, serves her right, the _bitch.'_ "

Onyx was breathing hard, and furiously wiping away tears. The Sandwing did not react.

"I _wanted_ somebody to love me. I _wanted_ to feel like I wasn't a failure. But no."

She drew a wavering breath.

"I don't CARE about my leg." She admitted. "I couldn't care less. But every single time it hurts, I know how much I messed up. Every time I ask somebody for help, because I _can't fucking walk,_ I know how much I messed up. That's _my_ problem. I don't care. But every time- EVERY SINGLE TIME I look my father in the eye, I see regret. Regret that I was born. Regret that he didn't finish me off. He has a good thing going- he found love, would've married Thorn by now if I hadn't shown up and ruined it all. Honestly…"

Onyx was openly weeping, kneeling on the ground.

"Honestly, I wish I were dead."

The Sandwing didn't say anything for some time.

"I need to go." Onyx said, wiping away her tears.

She slowly hobbled over to the door, and began the walk down her hallway to her room.

There was complete silence.

The Sandwing glanced at the puddle her tears had left on the ground and sipped his water.

 _Damnit, I need to find a bordello. There's got to be one in this town._

The Sandwing sighed, wiped at his face, and pulled a string placed on the arm of his chair.

The wall across from him collapsed, revealing a shocked Thorn and Smoulder.

"Eye-opening session?" he asked, glancing at a scroll that had been left on his table. Maybe that would have the information he needed.

A sob caused him to look up.

Thorn had Smoulder in her arms. He was sobbing, the tears running down his face and dripping off his chin like a waterfall.

"Wh- why would she ever think that?" He asked, to nobody in particular.

The Sandwing slowly ran a hand along his brow.

"It's hard to say." He responded, and then frowned. " _Oh wait!"_ he snapped his talons. "Maybe it's because you made her mother gravid, didn't bother to check on her for years, didn't even care if you had a dragonet out there, made her fester in her hate for you and Thorn for most of her adult life and then, just as she thought you loved her, _just as she opened up to you as you were saving her from CERTAIN DEATH…"_

He paused and sipped his water. No, that scroll had a timetable on it. He'd have to ask around.

"You dropped a great big rock on her leg. Thus crippling her for life. And, to add to that humiliation, you kept her in the public eye. I suppose there's lots of gossip around town about that 'failed killer', right?"

( **sorry Sandshadow9 I couldn't think of another way to put it.** )

Smoulder was shuddering, trying to contain his reaction. Thorn held him closer.

"What can we do?" she asked him.

"Well, I can't really suggest anything. It's all been so terrible up-till now, y'know?"

"WE CAN'T JUST DO NOTHING!" Smoulder yelled. "You're one of the best minds in the kingdom. Please- help us."

The Sandwing looked down at them, ignoring Thorn muttering 'And one of the horniest.' under her breath.

"I'll be honest, the problems run _deep._ I can't pinpoint an exact place where they began. All I can suggest is to keep her near you. Let her know how much you guys care for her. And I can't stress this enough- BE PATIENT. You'll do no good to her blowing up in her face. She's stubborn, but she has good reasons for her misgivings- you just heard most of them."

"So, I suppose you'll be leaving now?" Thorn asked.

"No, actually." The Sandwing said. He took another sip of his water. "I'll be staying on free of charge- just provide me with lodgings and food and the rest. This is a case that _truly_ intrigues me."

Smoulder had recovered somewhat, and sat down heavily in one of the other wicker chairs in the room.

"Who did you piss off?" he asked tiredly.

Thorn raised an eyebrow, glancing at the sheepish looking Sandwing.

"I may or may not have offended some gangs near my house…" he began, but then trailed off.

 _Sleeping with the Don's girl was probably not the best idea…._ He reflected.

"Fine." Thorn said. "Just, help us help Onyx. I haven't got a chance to show it much, but I care for her. She doesn't deserve any of this."

The Sandwing nodded gravely.

"I couldn't agree more. Now…" he grinned. "When's dinner served? Side note: are there any cathouses in the vicinity?"

~ Back in Jade Mountain ~

"What the heck?" one dragon shouted.

"I heard that too!" another screamed.

The chaos started right back up.

"OH LORD IS DARKSTALKER BACK?" the Nightwing on top of her cried, before being shushed by an Icewing.

"That wasn't Darkstalker you idiot, that was some animus." He scowled.

The Nightwing suddenly rose, presumably to argue with the Icewing, which gave her the opportunity to run over to Blue.

" _Blue!"_ she whispered into his ear.

" _BLUE!"_

He looked to her with a resigned look on his face.

"This is it." He said. "We're going to die now."

"No we're not." Green scoffed.

"We're all going to die!" a hysterical Sandwing screamed.

And then the entire cave burst into yelling.

"Everybody back to their caves!" Tsunami shouted over the commotion.

Slowly, the assembled dragons dispersed. Blue and Green snuck away with them. The only dragons left in the hallway were all the teachers, Moon and Qibli, and the two dragons that Tsunami and Sunny were keeping hostage.

~ POV Change! (70's Guitar Riff) ~

Sunny was breathing hard, looking at the small group that remained in the caves. She had been told by Moon that she needed to tell her something, and had therefore sent everybody away. It would do them good to find out what had happened to the students later.

"Right." she said, adjusting her hold on her captive. "What did you need to tell us?"

Moon took a shaky breath.

"Judging by how loud that command was, and the fact that it basically stopped the entire school from fighting, I'd say one of those dragons is an animus even more powerful than Darkstalker."

The cave was silent.

Far, far away, a dragon laughed.

And was cut off by a smaller, much more annoyed voice.

"You know your laugh sounds like an asthmatic hyena?"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **A/N: I have an examination tomorrow. I'm not sure how to put the panic and hopelessness into words.**

 **Oh wait, I think… just a second….**

 **;(**

 **That should do it.**

 **Also, sorry for the drop in quality. I used to dedicate one hour per day to this story. Now, I can dedicate about 15 minutes. Anyways, I should have my groove back by next time. However, my buffer chapter is now gone. I now write chapters in the two weeks before they are to be released. This means that my prediction came true much, MUCH sooner than I thought it would be.**

 **Also, Firestorm453, first of all- thank you for that wonderful OC! And I'm afraid I'm gonna have to angst him up. Basically, all I'm going to do is amplify his impulsiveness. So, if someone were to, say, call his father a traitorous bastard and his mother a Mudwing whore, well…**

 **But now: me!**

 **Musical side of me: *bleary-eyed and sleep deprived* just take Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight and put it on shuffle I sleep now**

 ***snoring***

 **Enjoy!**

~ _On a cold mountain passag-_ Screw it this isn't working ~

Growing up in the Rainforest, Kiwi was much more accustomed to dealing with massive heat and humidity. Every day was simply an exercise in not boiling to death. However, out here, in the frozen tundra, he was suffering. It was absolute torture to move his limbs; frozen as they were. His body shook; icicles were already forming on his snout.

"….iwi!" a voice said, fading quickly.

"Bright?" he asked wearily?

Suddenly, Bright appeared in front of him. He was shivering too, but was holding up much better than he had.

"What happened?" Bright asked, looking Kiwi over.

"C-c-cold." Was all that Kiwi was able to stutter out.

"Oh dear lord." Bright whispered. "You're not going to make it like this."

"Y-y-ya think?" Kiwi asked, shaking his body to get the snow out of the crevices between his scales.

"Right." He heard Bright say. "Get on my back."

"W-w-what?" Kiwi asked, blinking rapidly to get rid of the ice.

"Get on my back." Bright repeated. "I'll be able to manipulate snow away from you, and my fire will keep you warm."

Kiwi thought about arguing, but sighed and climbed aboard. As soon as he lay on Bright's back, he sighed in relief.

"Better?" Bright asked.

"Yeah." Kiwi replied, suddenly hyperaware of where he was.

"We should cover about twenty leagues today." Bright continued. "We'll find a place to rest, get some prey if possible, and rest. Alright?"

"Right." Kiwi droned, feeling woozy.

"Just out of interest," Bright was getting closer to the summit of the mountain. "When was the last time you slept? Before the few hours today, I mean."

"I think it was the day before yesterday."

Bright stopped dead in his tracks. When Kiwi opened his eyes to see what had caused the abrupt halt, he saw Bright staring back at him; tiling his head in such a way that his right eye could see him.

"What?" he asked.

"No wonder!" Bright said. "You must be exhausted."

"Hey!" Kiwi slurred. "I've had the same amount of sleep as you!"

"I haven't flown through a storm!" Bright replied. "Also, I've been trained to stay awake for longs periods of time."

"Oh kay." Kiwi replied. His tiredness was more punctuated now, probably because he was lying on top of a furnace. "But I sleep when you sleep."

"No." Bright said simply. "You will go to sleep right now."

"No." Kiwi pouted, like a petulant child.

Bright sighed, esperated. He had been about to tell Kiwi, in no uncertain terms, that he was to go to sleep _or else,_ but at that exact moment, they crested the mountain summit.

And the universe stretched before them.

They were on the highest point for miles around; the view was incredible. All around them there was snow, piled four to five feet thick. It covered the boulders littering the valley below them, and the many other valleys in sight.

That wasn't the remarkable bit.

The remarkable bit was the sight of the stars scattered across the sky, like tiny pinpricks of light on the world's largest canvas. He could've spent the entire night adoring them.

And the icing on the cake had to be the auroras.

They were magnificent ribbons of light, stretching across the night sky, slowly rippling, blazing in the night, lighting up everything for miles. They were gold and green and red and blue and everything in between, and as far as he was concerned, they were the most beautiful things out there.

 _Except him._ A voice in the back of his head said, unbidden.

Bright ignored it, but doing that got significantly harder once Kiwi piped up.

"They look incredible" he admitted, gazing at the night sky.

The auroras reflected in his shimmering eyes.

The urge to kiss him became stronger.

"Alright that's it, I sleep now." Kiwi sang, before dropping back down and beginning to snore.

 _Finally._ Bright thought. This was the opportunity he needed to sort out his thoughts, he decided as he started on the descent down the mountain. He had already spotted potential shelter about two mountains away; all he needed to do was get them there.

It was absolutely freezing, but Kiwi and the fire he had manipulated inside himself both helped. Also, it wasn't snowing, so there was not much risk of hypothermia and exhaustion.

It was time.

 _Right._ He thought. _Let me just blurt it all out. Whisper it all out._

"I think I may be attracted to a dragon from a continent I've never heard of that is a species I've never seen and is the same gender as me. And I am absolutely certain that he is perfect for me, even though I've known him for exactly one day."

Silence.

Broken by soft snoring.

 _There._ He thought, looking over his shoulder to make sure Kiwi hadn't woken up. He hadn't.

 _Phew._

Bright tried to remember the formal term for something like this. What had his father called it, a… crush?

 _Yeah, that's right._

He thought back to that discussion he had had with his dad, just about two years ago. He had been wondering why his entire homegroup seemed obsessed with 'dating' and 'kissing'.

He had gone to the barracks to pay his father, a loud, boisterous military dragon, a visit, along with his five other siblings. He was the middle one, so he generally got the least attention.

Not this time.

As soon as he had began talking about the 'thing', his father had told him to shut it and stay behind after the others had left.

"Son," he had begun once the rest had left, and had then launched into a diatribe about how eggs were made. It had been one of the worst experiences of his life, because it was just so incredibly _awkward,_ talking about it with his father. Sure, they didn't see much of each, but whenever Bright got the chance to meet him, he acted like it was all normal. Like his mother hadn't died in the war, and like he didn't feel neglected for his entire life. It was, occasionally, as he made himself believe, normal.

Besides, he didn't understand what his father was talking about when he had said that he was probably having feelings towards girls. The only person he had his eye on was this really cute guy called Orion, who he had slipped a note earlier that week.

His father had stared at him in shock, and asked him what the _hell he meant._ After he had admitted it, his father had told him to stay there, and had stormed out into the night. He looked _really angry._ Eventually, about an hour later, he had come back. By that point, Bright had become absolutely terrified. He was scared that what he had done was wrong, that everything that he felt was wrong. So, when his father had walked in and declared that he had had his homegroup changed, Bright had been relieved that no more serious action was going to be taken. But the incident had terrified him. He would never forget that feeling that he had done something wrong, but didn't know what.

Granted, his father had sat him down again about two years later, and explained to him that 'warriors can't have relationships because it'll compromise us in battle.' He hadn't elaborated on how he and his mother had had their relationship, but by that point in time, Bright had stopped questioning his father. It was for the better.

That had been about six months ago. Before everything had changed. Before it all fell down.

Bright missed a step and slipped on an exposed bit of boulder. He caught himself, and resumed walking. The snow was now getting deeper and deeper as they descended further into the valley. The Sapphirewing righted himself, cursing his powers for not being strong enough to just get this damned snow out of the way.

A sound caught his ear. He looked up, and froze.

Directly above them, circling like vultures, were two dragons. The moonlight shone off their scales, revealing them for what they were.

"Silverwings." He whispered, not believing his eyes.

Suddenly, they dropped. He knew they would see him and Kiwi if he didn't act soon.

"Kiwi!" he whisper-yelled as he threw himself to the ground.

The hard impact with the packed snow must've woken him up, because a groggy voice murmured "Mom?"

"Lightwings!"

To his credit, as soon as Kiwi opened his eyes, he didn't hesitate. One look at the situation- no tree cover, no hope of escape, and he spread his wings over Bright's while turning his scales the same shade of white as the snow.

"…I told you, I need to go!"

"Why didn't you go during our break?"

The sounds of the Lightwings arguing came into hearing range, and Bright strained to listen to what they were talking about.

"I didn't need to go back then!" one of them said, his voice a nasally whine.

"You suck!" the other voice said. This one was more heavy, and deep. "At this rate, It'll take us months to get to base camp!"

Bright's ears perked. Base camp? This was new.

"I won't be a minute!" the first voice faded, implying the speaker had run away.

"Weak-bladdered idiot." The other one said. He stood for some time, waiting, until the first one came back.

"Let's go." He said, and the two took to the skies.

Kiwi and Bright looked up to see them go.

"That was close." Kiwi admitted, as they flew away, still bickering.

"Yeah." Bright agreed.

"Very close."

"Yeah."

"Too close."

"Yeah."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah."

"Bright, say no."

"Did you hear that thing about a base camp?"

About a thousand miles north ~

The car rattled and shook violently.

The lanterns hanging from the roof swung back and forth, trying their best to illuminate the insides of the carriage.

They didn't help much.

The darkness was almost absolute; the oil in the lanterns didn't take being thrown around all that well. The tiny flames inside them spluttered; tiny pinpricks of light in the darkness.

The carriage wasn't made for creature comforts: straw was piled almost four feet high and a tiny trough in the corner was quarter-full of water- the rest had splashed out.

The carriage suddenly took a sharp right. Metal groaned, wooden slats protested, wheels squealed and the third lantern from the front gave up the ghost and fell onto the head of the Rainwing lying in the straw.

 _THUNK._

"OW!"

The Rainwing put her talon to the impact site and…

Shimmer gasped, taking her talons away from her head. They were covered in blood.

 _Stay calm, stay calm…_

She softly probed the wound, wincing as she found it to be quite substantial.

 _Fan-fucking-tastic, Shimmer. You're screwed now._

Her breathing was getting faster. As the blood began pumping through her body, the throbbing in her head worsened.

 _Please just be a flesh wound, please just be a flesh wound, please just be a flesh wound…_

It got worse, and worse, until she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Aaargh…" she trailed off, the pain even stopping her from speaking.

The fire began inside her head. It slowly spread down her neck, and into her torso.

As the fire spread into her limbs, she opened her mouth in a last ditch effort.

But no sound came out.

As she slipped back into unconsciousness, she thought she saw a silhouette in the car doorway.

 _Help._ She mouthed. And then the world went dark.

~ In Jade Mountain ~

"No."

Moon jumped as Tsunami pounded her free talon into the ground.

"There is NO WAY one of those dragons is an animus more powerful than Darkstalker."

"Who's Darkstalker?" the dragon Tsunami was keeping captive asked. She appeared to have gotten Tsunami's talon off over her mouth so that she could speak.

She was completely ignored.

"Tsunami?" Sunny said, reaching out to put her talon on her friend's shoulder.

"It's simply not possible. Our luck CANNOT be this bad. How long's it been since the last disaster? A month? Two?"

"One and a half." A voice called out from behind her.

She turned to see Starflight walking down the hall, Fatespeaker leading him.

"Aww, don't be so pessimistic!" she called out to Tsunami. "For all we know, this student will only use their animus powers for good!"

"Like Anemone? Or Darkstalker himself?" Tsunami asked, eyes as wide as saucers.

"They both turned out fine." Qibli pointed out.

"After a WAR, Qibli." Tsunami declared, turning to glare at him. He tried to glare back, but backed down after a few seconds.

"What are you guys talking about?" the Skywing asked. The odd looking Mudwing tried to lunge for her, but Sunny's tail kept him in check.

"Besides, it's more of a question of whether or not we're willing to put the students at risk like this." Tsunami continued. "Personally, I'm not willing to do that. What about you, Sunny?"

Sunny blinked, and said "I'll admit that I would at least like to know _who_ it was."

"You guy's can't just ignore me-"

Tsunami slapped her talon back over the mouth of the Skywing.

"Great. Now that that's settled, we need to find out WHY THE ENITRE MOUNTAIN DECIDED TO FIGHT EACH OTHER. WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?"

Clay winced, failing to protect his ears from Tsunami's bellow. "Why don't _you_ two ask the people who started it, and we'll ask everybody else?"

"That's not a bad idea." Sunny mused.

Tsunami didn't respond- she simply took her talon away from the Skywing's mouth and looked at it.

"Did- did you just _lick me?_ " she asked incredulously.

"Yes." The Skywing responded, a huge grin plastered across her face. "Now, what the hell is happening?"

At that point, the odd-looking Mudwing tried to get free.

"Oh stop it, you." Sunny groaned, giving her captive a gentle nudge. He roared, realised he wasn't going to be released, and therefore took to yelling insults.

"Does your ass ever get jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth?" he asked.

Clay groaned. "Let's be civil here."

"No, no." the Skywing said, inspecting her nails. "I want to see where this goes."

"If I wanted to commit suicide I would climb up your ego and fall to your IQ!"

"For goodness sake, stop!" Starflight said.

"You look like your face was set on fire and somebody put the fire out _with chains._ "

"Oh?" the Skywing asked, looking right at him. She leaned closer, pushing away Tsunami as she tried to restrain her. "You look like your parents would be disappointed in you if _they had stayed._ "

She drew a deep breath, and then bellowed, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH-"

The Skywing was then drowned out by the Mudwing, who yelled "YOU BITCH!" and lunged for the jugular.

Gasps went up from the assembled dragons as Sunny used her tail and talons to stop him.

"NO!" he screamed as he was dragged away by the angry Sandwing.

"Right." She struggled out, sweat beading on her brow. "You guys go talk to the students. Me and Tsunami have business to attend to."

The tone the females used to say that left absolutely no room for argument.

"Absolutely." Moon said, and grabbed Qibli by the ear to lead him back down the tunnel. The others left in similarly inconspicuous ways.

"Now."

The two dragons dragged their captives into the friendship cave, vacated by now, and tossed them into opposite corners of the room.

"Right then." Tsunami cracked her knuckles. "You two need to make up!"

The dragons looked at each other.

And all hell broke loose.

The Mudwing screamed and ran at her. The Skywing held her ground, settling into a battle pose. The smirk on her face grew as the Mudwing approached, claws outstretched, bright blue eyes burning.

And was then tackled to the ground by Sunny, who held his writhing body in place.

"JUST STOP FIGHTING!" Tsunami screamed. The room went silent; each dragon looking at her with a different expression on their faces- Sunny looked back at her, grey-green eyes glimmering with hope, rage etched across the face of the Mudwing, and the Skywing with one brow raised like a drawbridge.

"What in the _world_ has gotten into you two?" she asked.

"I'll tell you what." The Mudwing growled, trying, and failing, to push Sunny aside. "She called my father a traitorous bastard. _And_ called my mother a whore. _And then called me impure scum._ So, _excuse me."_

The room was silent.

"WHAT?" Tsunami and Sunny exclaimed simultaneously.

"Why?" Tsunami asked as she turned to the Skywing, who shrugged and said "I only said that because you curse like a drunken bartender."

"THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE." Sunny screamed as Tsunami buried her head in her talons.

"damnit." She mumbled, trying to ignore the Skywing's smug expression.

Sunny, on the other hand, did nothing but look at her captive in the same way that a disappointed parent looks at a petulant child.

"What?" the Mudwing asked.

No response.

"You can't possibly blame me!" He said.

No response.

"…fine. I'm sorry."

"Apologise to her, not to me!" Sunny declared, gesturing to the Skywing.

The Mudwing glared at the Skywing, who had the smuggest of grins on her face.

"I apologize for my raucous behaviour. Alright?" he asked, turning to Sunny, who wordlessly nodded.

"You're not off the hook either!" Tsunami poked the Skywing, earning herself a dirty look and a failed attempt at a jab.

"Why would you say something like that?" she asked her softly.

"Because he is!" the Skywing said.

"Is what?" Sunny asked.

"Impure scum. He's a hybrid. Haven't you noticed?"

Sunny just stared. Both Tsunami and the Mudwing were looking on to what was happening with the look of someone waiting for an explosion.

"You know what?" Sunny said. "We have better things to do! Let's go."

She grabbed Tsunami and led her out of one of the exits.

"Oh, I forgot." Sunny turned. "You guys will stay here until you've sorted out your differences. If, after this _heart to heart,_ you ever fight like you did, you will be kicked out. As it is, after you've got this out of your system, you will join your Winglet as previously planned. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." The Mudwing called out meekly. He glared daggers at the Skywing, who put her talons up and put on a smirk that seemed to say 'I didn't do anything but actually I did.'

The Mudwing almost punched her there and then, but stopped himself at the last second. He took a deep breath, and plastered a smile across his face.

"Hello!" he said cheerily. "My name is Firestorm. How do you do?"

The Skywing slowly pushed his outstretched talon away, and responded "I'm Brook."

"Great." Firestorm dropped the façade. "Now, interested in telling me why you felt the need to belittle my entire family tree?"

"For fun." Brook replied, leaning back in a chair. Now that the imminent danger was gone, she could relax a bit.

" _GOOD."_

The Mudwing's expression altered; he was no longer smiling. He wasn't even in that state of absolute rage he had been in before. His face was a cold, calculating sneer that sent chills down Brook's spine.

 _Shit._ She thought, just having realised that she'd bit off more than she could chew.

" _Then I guess you won't mind when I do- THIS!"_

He threw a punch, and it took all of Brook's talent to avoid it. Rolling under his sweeping talons, the Skywing took a moment to observe the hole left in the cave wall by Firestorm's closed fist.

" _SAY IT AGAIN, YOU BITCH!"_

Another punch she was barely able to block

" _I DARE YOU!"_

A kick to the stomach sent her flying across the room. She gasped as she painfully hit the ground, ribs groaning.

" _I double dare you."_

The Mudwing swept his tail across the ground, causing a sweeping cloud of dust to be kicked up. Brook coughed painfully, aware of her probably sprained joints. She needed to end this- if he tried to hit her one more time, it would be game over for her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, as the Mudwing suddenly appeared to her right- ready to deliver the finishing blow.

" _NOBODY INSULTS MY PARENTS, BROOK."_ He said, stopping about two feet away from her.

"Why?" she asked, trying to ignore the waver in her voice. "It was just a bit of fun!"

" _FUN?"_ he asked. "FUN?"

He roared loudly, right into her face. And then he calmed down, and got off her. Breathing hard, she stood up.

" _JUST FUN, RIGHT?"_ Firestorm said softly.

"Yeah?"

" _TRY FUN WHEN YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD!"_

Silence prevailed over the room. Then a change came over Firestorm again, and he sat down heavily in one of the chairs.

"They're dead, Brook. Because of me. So I'd prefer it if you kept their names out of your dirty mouth."

Brook simply stared at him, slack-jawed. She couldn't imagine what her expression looked like, but considering the grimace Firestorm had, it didn't really matter.

"I'm sorry." She choked out finally. "I didn't know-"

"Save it." The Mudwing said with finality. "We'll tell them that we made up, and then go our sperate ways. Agreed?"

The Skywing hesitated- if only for a second. Then she nodded her head.

"Alright."

~ Upstairs ~

School was right back in full swing.

As soon as all the unpleasantness on the lower levels had been sorted out, the students had moved on to their next class. Efficient, except for the fact that the Gold Winglet officially had nothing to do, since they were supposed to be with Tsunami in the friendship cave.

What this resulted in was the entire winglet lounging around in the library, waiting for the next class to begin.

And considering what had just happened, they weren't in the best state.

Tamarin was curled up in a corner of the cave. At first glance, it appeared that she was having a nap. Closer analysis, however, showed that her eyes were wide open and red-rimmed, implying that it had been quite a while since she had last blinked.

Pike was pacing the cave, constantly glancing at the entrance. He had tried to get to the class Anemone was in, but had been turned away by an especially stern Clay. That hadn't sat well, and Anemone had had to order him to return to his cave.

Pluto was lying on his bunk, fiddling with a tiny figurine. When asked what it was, he had said "It's a gift for my mother." He seemed to be slightly nervous, but wasn't as bad as Green.

She was twitching every few seconds, probably flashbacking to almost shredding the belly of a Nightwing- even if his thick skin had meant no real damage had been done.

At least, that was the excuse she was giving everybody.

The real reason she was so stressed was that she was still thinking about how close they had been to getting caught.

 _Those guys were maybe five feet away… how?_

The silence stretched on. And on. And on. Until…

"Damnit, this is way too awkward, even for me!"

Pluto got off his bench and sat in one corner of the room. When Pike looked at him in surprise, he grinned and patted the ground next to him.

"Everybody in!"

Reluctantly, Green and Blue led Tamarin to the impromptu Friendship circle now taking up most of the floor.

"Alright. We're all basically bouncing off the walls. So, to calm ourselves down, we need to make sense of what in the world happened." Pluto grabbed some chalk. "Let's compile what we know." A bullet point was marked on the ground. "All the dragons in that cave experienced something. Us included. So, can any of you describe it in detail?"

"Bloodlust?" Tamarin suggested.

Everybody turned to her. She simply stared into space, and once the silence had dragged on for long enough, sighed.

"You're all staring at me because you don't know how to take the fact that I know what bloodlust feels like. No, no." She held up a finger to stop them. "Don't argue. I know that deafening silence all too well. The point is, I know what it's like, and that's what it was." She reclined back in her seat.

"Alright. So, the weird feeling was bloodlust. We can therefore safely assume that everybody else had the same feeling. That means nobody wanted to actually fight, right?" Pike asked.

"Let's make a chart." Blue declared, grabbing some more chalk. He drew several small circles in red chalk, and then many more in purple.

"So the red ones are us. The purple ones are all the other dragons in the school. The bloodlust affected everybody in the school at the same time-"

"No."

Green spoke softly, still a bit shocked.

"The lust affected only the students; the teachers were fine. And a very specific pool of students- far as I can tell, none of the Jade Winglet was affected. Also, it affected us last. When we arrived at the fight, it had been going on for a while already."

The sounds of the birds outside seemed more scary than before. The sunlight streaming in through the still broken window was suddenly blocked out by a cloud, and the wind picked up, screaming through the ravines and past the rocks. Somewhere, a wolf howled.

"Ominous." Pluto commented before getting back to business. "Now, next on the docket: why did all of us feel bloodlust at these specific times?"

"Simple." Pike pointed out. "Somebody was targeting us, probably with magic. It's what I would do."

"But who would want to do something like that?" Pluto wondered?

"Oh, many, many, many people." Tamarin replied, getting up and walking over to where they were sitting. "But not many have the _resources_ to pull something like this off."

"Well then, who does-"

Pluto was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from down the hall.

The dragons turned to look at the entrance from where the sounds were emanating. The footsteps were heavy, and seemed to cause the floor to shake.

"What's going on?" Tamarin asked fearfully. The other's didn't have a response.

Suddenly, through the door stepped Sunny.

"Ah, there you are!" she exclaimed. "Meet your new clawmates!"

And through the door stepped… them.

~ And back on the train ~

Shimmer slowly forced her eyes open. The light around her was harsh and glaring.

"….like somebody hit her with a sharp colander!" a voice faded in. "That wound is bad enough as it is. And then that lantern-"

"Uuuungh." Shimmer groaned softly.

Silence. Only the sound of the car travelling along the rails could be heard.

"Are you awake?" a voice suddenly asked, as hands grasped at her face. "Good lord, she's conscious. WATER!"

The car was suddenly filled with sounds of chaos, the noise rising to a cacophony as the train took a corner at full speed.

"WHO THE FUCK IS DRIVING THIS THING?" a voice from the other car over yelled, and the door burst open.

"OK, OK." A voice belonging to a dragon maybe seven years younger than her said. "Alright, alright. Breathe."

Suddenly, she found herself drenched in water. She gasped for air, and the voice screamed.

"Ohmigod I killed her. I killed her dead. Oh good lord I dun killed her, y'all!"

Shimmer slowly opened her eyes, and found before her a rather confusing sight. The entire car was full of Silverwings jumping around, running in and out of the car, as the train itself screeched along.

"Uuungh…." She repeated, the throbbing in her head becoming almost unbearable.

"Oh!" the dragon yelled, even though she was right next to her. She reached into a small bucket next to her and pulled out some dripping green goop, which she slathered all over Shimmer's wound.

"I didn't kill her, boys! Calm down now."

The chaos lessened slightly, as the bustling came to a close.

"Ya feelin' better?" the dragon asked gently. Shimmer looked up at her- silver scales and all, and muttered, "Yeah."

"Ah, good. Those asses back on the coast really messed your head up. Tea?"

She looked over her shoulder at the others still in the room.

"Well? Shoo!"

The dragons scampered, leaving her and the mysterious Silverwing alone together.

"So, what's your name?" she asked.

Shimmer groaned. "Indoor voice." She mumbled.

"Indoor what now?" the Silverwing tilted her head to one side. "Where you from, lady?"

"Pyrrhia." She replied. "Quiet, please."

"Ohhhhh." The Silverwing exclaimed, stretching the 'Oh'. "Alright." She whispered, pouring something out of another pail she was holding over her head. "I'll be quieter. You'll want some of this."

The dragon procured a small clay cup. Cobalt liquid sloshed around inside.

"What is it?" Shimmer asked softly.

"Tea." The dragon whispered, propping up her head so that she could sip at it.

"I'm assuming you washed up on the coast, got angry, became all red and were then imprisoned by the Silverwings on suspicion of being a Sapphirewing?"

Shimmer looked up at her in shock. "H-how did you know?"

"We've had another case just like yours."

"Wh-what?"

Shimmer was finding it harder to stay awake.

"What was in the tea?" she choked out against a mouth that seemed not to obey her.

"Those would be the sedatives. We need to operate on your wound- there might be a bit of dirt in there, and it could become infected…"

And then Shimmer passed out.

 **A/N: Yeah. No dramatic ending, because no time. Whoops.**

 **Not much happened this chapter. Actually, next chapter is gonna be much more interesting. This was meant to be kind of filler, and the introduction of an OC, but nobody actually introduced any plot points. I'm still looking for filler plot, guys!**

 **Also, If I ever end up rewriting this story, this will be the first chapter I tackle. It's just all so rushed.**

 **Basically, sorry. Another two weeks should yield better, more interesting results.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **A/N: Guess who's back?**

 ***"Still DRE" by Dr. Dre" starts to play***

 **Also, on a completely unrelated note, Chemistry is a pain in the ass.**

 **Also, chapters will remain around this length until October- I have to literally make notes for thousands of pages worth of textbooks. So, yeah.**

 **As for music, try Billie Eilish Bellyache, and then some Electro Swing like the Die House remix. This chapter only has two scenes in it, so…**

~ On the train ~

Shimmer was slowly sipping a cup of steaming brown stuff. She hadn't asked what it was, but, judging by the taste, it was made up at least partially of dirt.

"How's that wound feelin' now?" the dragon next to her asked.

"Better." She replied simply, feeling around the gigantic bandage wrapped around her head. Apparently, she had had a concussion, but it was alright now.

"Ain't I thankful for that." The young dragon had said while delivering the news. "You seem like a nice lady! Doesn't hurt that I'm now an actual healer, rather than just some nobody helper…"

She was a Silverwing; everybody on the train was. But apparently, they were _different_ Silverwings- ones who didn't hate the Sapphirewings, ones who were actually reasonable and sane. Her healer had told her as much when she had woken up from that drug induced coma. Her mind was, in fact, still a bit hazy.

As the dragon had rambled on, Shimmer had suddenly been struck by a realisation- Kiwi had wanted to be a healer. He had told her as much at one of their now rare family outings. Would he be like this when he grew up?

If _he grows up. He could be dead._

The thought had brought tears to her eyes so fast the healer had been worried that the painkillers weren't working, but Shimmer had assured her they were. The dragon, surprisingly, had understood, and had left her alone for a while.

And that was where they had ended up.

She was still too weak to walk, the healer had informed her, but she could probably stand with support. The tea was meant to help with that; grant her strength, were the exact words she had used.

 _I wonder…_

"I didn't catch your name." Shimmer said to the healer, who grinned lopsidedly and responded, "That's 'cause I didn't offer it! Alexandria, at your service!" the healer stuck out a talon for her to shake. "But you can call me Alex. What about you?"

"My name is Shimmer."

"Pretty name. Now, you ready to move?"

"I suppose." Shimmer replied.

"Right then." Alexandria said. "So, I'm just gonna tell you what we gotta do- we need to get to that there carriage, and to do that, we'll need to walk between the cars. Its only about fifteen feet, but with how weak you are, it could be problematic. So, I'm gonna ask you again- are you ready to move?"

"I'm ready." Shimmer replied. She could handle a little walk, right?

And just as Alex was going to help her up-

"Wait." Shimmer said, remembering something. "Before I passed out, you mentioned something about another dragon like me coming here before. Could you… tell me more about him?"

"Aw, shucks, I don't know much about him." Alex replied, putting her talon up to scratch her head. "See, he came through at least ten or twelve years ago. Got captured in the same way as you, best I can remember. Gran-gran knows more, though. She was there when he came through."

"I suppose Gran-gran is in that next car?"

"Everybody is on this stretch of the tracks." Alex replied. "It's far too dangerous to remain in these ol' rusty carriages. The only reason you're here is because we didn't want to hurt you more by moving you."

"Will Gran-gran have more medicine?"

"Yes."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Shimmer asked, slowly rising to her feet.

Alex grinned. She was already beginning to like this strange dragon.

"OK. Now, this isn't gonna be what you expect. Be ready for really, and I do mean REALLY strong buffeting."

"I'm prepared. Let's go."

The door was thrown open. And the first words out of Shimmer's mouth were "Crap."

Firstly, her perception of time must've been really off. While she had thought it was at least evening, the sun was just rising. That meant poor visibility.

But there was enough light to make this out- the train was travelling over a mountain, along tiny tracks. There was mountain on one side, and a huge ravine on the other. And whoever was driving the train had apparently come out for an early morning's suicide.

The train was coming up fast on a corner- she could tell, because the river had fallen away to the right, implying a drop-off ahead.

"Alex, is that a turn up ahead?"

The silver dragon took one look at the river, uttered a string of colourful curses, and grabbed onto Shimmer.

"Hold on!" she yelled over the sounds of squealing wheels.

And then the train hit the curve.

There was no other way to describe it- a gigantic shuddering, protesting of metal and wood, wheels crying out in protest, the cars rising off the rails and into the air while also tilting towards the ravine, and in the midst of it all, two dragons clinging on to a doorframe for dear life, screaming at the top of their lungs.

But then it stopped.

And the train continued on its way.

Both the females were breathing hard. Shimmer spoke first.

"What. The. Fuck?" she gasped.

"That doesn't usually-" Alex inhaled deeply, "usually happen. The driver must be a newbie."

The train then accelerated towards the side of a mountain.

"Alex?" Shimmer asked fearfully.

"TUNNEL!" Alex screamed, grabbing her and throwing the both of them back into the carriage. Without them there to support it, the door flew open.

The wind then hit.

The sounds of two screaming dragons was drowned out by the noise coming from the wind outside the carriage. Cars up and down the train were shuddering, but theirs more so, due to the open door. It felt like the wind would first tear the carriage to bits, and then shake the rest of the train apart.

Alex screamed something as the bales of hay flew around them

"WHAT?" Shimmer asked.

The Silverwing pressed her lips to her ear and yelled "BUFFETING!"

 _Oh._

Just as the wooden boards lining the cabin were beginning to rattle and shake, the train exited the tunnel and the chaos stopped.

"Aaaaargh!"

Alex stopped screaming as she noticed that the train had left the tunnel.

"Stay here." She mouthed, and ran to the door.

After pumping her talon in the air, she turned and ran back towards her.

"We're clear for the next few miles. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The dragons got up, Alex supporting Shimmer, and they stepped out of the door.

Immediately, Shimmer could see why Alex had been so worried- the wind attacked them from all sides, hitting them as hard as it possibly could. It would've been the easiest thing in the world to be swept over- certain death awaiting on either side.

But slowly, step after step, they made progress. It was only fifteen feet, but it may as well have been fifteen miles. The walk was torture, but they were getting there.

And then Alex noticed something.

"Another tunnel? It can't be!"

But it was. And it was approaching them fast.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-" Alex chanted as she practically dragged Shimmer to the ever- elusive door. "C'mon, go faster!"

They reached the door, and Alex dragged her in. Just a second after she had closed the door behind them, the buffeting began- except much gentler, for they weren't exposed to the outside.

"Oh, thank goodness." Alex said, leaning against the door. She looked over to where Shimmer lay. "You alright?"

"Dandy." Shimmer said drily as she sat up and rubbed her aching head. "Now what?"

"Now, we go through that door."

Shimmer stood up, and walked over to the door. She opened it and-

~ Back in the Library ~

Brook was currently regretting every single life decision that had led her to this exact moment.

"Suck it up. Suck it up. Suck it up."

That annoying chorus came from the dragon trudging alongside her, who was currently trying not to look at her. She sighed and looked back at the dragon in front of them- Tsunami, who looked especially smug.

"Relax, you guys. You're gonna love them! They've all _just joined,_ EXACTLY LIKE YOU, they're all _friends,_ UNLIKE YOU, and I think they'll be a great influence on the both of you!"

She turned, apparently expecting raucous applause for her speech. What she got instead was one Skywing with a twitching eye, and a Mudwing who looked like he'd given up in life.

"Kill me now." He said with a completely straight face.

"Ah, cheer up!" Tsunami said, undeterred. "These will be, quite possibly, some of the best days of your lives!"

"I doubt that." Brook quipped.

The female led them into the library, where a few other dragons were sitting in a circle on the ground. They were all staring- apparently, they were expected.

"Meet your new clawmates!" Tsunami declared happily.

 _Wow._ Brook observed. _They look positively miserable._

"You all look positively miserable." Firestorm blurted out.

Tsunami facepalmed as their now-clawmates glared at him. One of them- the one with blue scales- said "Well, we've just been involved in a fight YOU TWO STARTED, so _excuuuuse us._ "

"Wait, that was them?" the green one asked.

"It was!" the Seawing responded, his eyebrows lifting up. "I remember!"

"I know nothing." The Rainwing said, but everybody ignored her.

"Gold Winglet, these will be your new clawmates. Introduce yourselves!"

Tsunami then tuned and left the room, leaving Firestorm and Brook standing in the middle of the library rather awkwardly.

Until Firestorm piped up.

"Hello!" he began. "I'm Firestorm, and that's Brook."

 _Asserting himself as the more open and communicative one_. _Smart move._ Brook thought to herself.

"How are all of you?" he continued.

"Why were the two of you fighting?" the Rainwing asked.

"Let's not discuss that, shall we?" Brook said, sliding right into their ranks. _Two can play at this game, Firestorm._ "What's up?"

"Nothing." replied a Nightwing with jet black scales and orange eyes, quickly tossing a slate over his shoulder. It flew out of the broken window.

"Now, why don't you two get comfy and tell us more about yourselves?" he continued. "Like, for instance, are you going to fight again?"

"No, we made up." Brook said at the exact same time Firestorm said "You just threw a slate out of a window."

"You know, let's start with me! My name is Brook-"

"You can't possibly act like that didn't just happen!"

"Yes I can." Brook continued without even glancing the Mudwing's way. She could tell he was getting annoyed.

"He can do whatever he wants." The Mudwing continued. He then turned to the blue dragon next to him and extended a talon. "Hello! What were you guys doing?"

"We- we- we were just discussing how nice it would be to make some new friends?" The blue one said it like he was asking a question.

"Firestorm! Let the poor dragon be! We're all friends here!"

The rest of the winglet suddenly developed horrified expressions on their faces.

"Help."

~ Time skip ~

"…and then I said 'What are you? A _HEALER?'_ "

"Funny story _Brook_ , but the punchline is supposed to be 'Ain't you a _healer?'"_

"Actually, _Firestorm,_ it's supposed to be 'AREN'T'."

"BUT THAT ISN'T AS FUNNY AS AIN'T _, BROOK."_

These sounds of chaos were emanating from the two dragons, who were currently in the process of deciding who had made the best knock-knock joke.

"Why would Tsunami do this to us?" Blue whispered to Green, who moaned and put her hands over her ears.

"I don't know, ask her!"

"Hey, any of you guys want something from the prey centre?" Brook asked, and then immediately continued without waiting for a response. "Yes? I'll go and get food!"

She bolted, and Firestorm screamed "OH NO YOU DON'T!" before running after her.

There was momentary silence.

"What in the WORLD WAS THAT?" Tamarin yelled out, her face white.

"I think my ears are bleeding." Pike pointed out.

Pluto simply stared the thousand-yard stare of a broken dragon.

"Pluto?" Blue asked.

"They didn't even ask our names." He said in shock.

"Hey, did any of you notice that the two of them are trying to get us to dislike the other?" Tamarin mentioned.

"Now that I think about it, yeah!"

"They seem untrustworthy." Green pointed out.

"How about we don't tell them about any of this?" Pike asked.

"Yeah. Let's do that."

 **Protip- Don't change subjects after a year of studying one; it really, really sucks.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **A/N: And now for a chapter setting up the entire rest of the story: flashbacks.**

 **Yay.**

 **In other news, I've decided to put scene transitions in bold because that way they're easier to spot!**

 ***SIGH***

 **You know you've hit rock bottom where that counts as an optimistic statement.**

 **And now a song list: Begin with The Last Transport by Rodney Spence, then transition to Blood Red Roses by C21FX. Then, from the third scene in the desert, make sure to listen to Look to the Stars by Gothic Storm. And, naturally, listen to Ascension by Christian Baczyk. But since the last scene is so short, you'll need to let the song build. Basically, listen to the song until the distorted guitar plays one chord. Then start with the scene, and hopefully you'll reach the last 'all determined' bit when the chorus quote unquote comes in.**

 **~ A farm in the middle of nowhere, maybe 12 years ago~**

The sun was out.

She had always noticed that when it was cloudy, her elders would get annoyed, and wish for the sun to come back. But it was never that way for her.

She absolutely hated the sun. It cast a blinding light that always caused her to momentarily lose her sight; it always made everything dry; and it never let up, no matter what. It also meant that 'he' was in one of his… bad moods.

She had just walked inside the barn to find him standing in the centre of the room, surrounded by large mounds of hay. She sighed with resignation and walked up to him.

 _It'll be fine._ She reassured herself. The grin on his face grew wider as she drew near, and he put a hand on her snout.

"You know the drill, _my dear_."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I-"

A biting pain spread across the right side of her face, causing her to lose her balance and fall over.

"Yes. You. Do."

The young dragon slowly looked up, tears in her eyes. And was subsequently hit again. And again. And again. And each time it hurt more, but she would sit and bear it. Because she knew it was penance for everything she had ever done, and everything she was ever to do.

This was a small price to pay for salvation.

The blood left a metallic taste in her mouth even after she had spit it out, but she refused to let it show.

"Thank you, sir." She said, attempting a grin. And was slapped once more.

"Don't give me that shit-eating grin, you bitch."

"Let her be." A voice piped up feebly.

The dragon responsible for the wounds slowly turned around, glaring at the thin, frail shadow of a dragon curled up in one corner of the barn. The dragon who had tried defending her was ancient- at least a hundred. The skin was stretched thin across her wings, and translucent white eyes stared out at the scene unfolding before them.

"What did you say?" he asked, jowls dripping; eyes bulging.

"Let her be." The voice responded. "She ain't done nothing to you."

The dragon grinned, looking back and forth between the two females.

"Except she _has._ " He laughed, and she felt like dying. The shame rising up like a wave threatened to overtake her completely, but she kept it all in. She _had_ to be strong- it was the only way.

"That's horseshit and you know it."

The dragon looked worried for a second- but then turned back to the young dragonet with a smirk in his eyes.

"Now, _dearie,_ you will do as I say, or she gets it." He gestured towards the older dragon.

She felt her heart stop- _no, please don't-_ before being replaced with a sense of calm- _no, this is what you're destined to do don't try to stop it-_ and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I know the drill."

Off to one side, hidden by a bale of hay, a young dragon, no more than twenty years of age. She skimmed over his features, making a quick assessment- _green scales curved talons metallic Lightwing-_ and moved closer. He was passed out, probably from the gigantic wound on the side of his head leaking blood. His lips were twisted into a grimace.

The large dragon slowly took a dagger from behind his back and handed it to her.

"Do it."

She looked over the weapon, took one last look at the helpless beast, and swiftly thrust the dagger into the unconscious dragon's heart.

 **~ And now, in the desert, modern day ~**

"Suck it, you bloated fucking tangerine."

The dragon she had been referring to did a spit take as he looked at her in shock- _who dares to insult me?-_ but then immediately looked away when he saw her expression and general appearance. She grinned as she walked further down the street uninterrupted- the rugged good looks, the fact that she was obviously an outsider, and the twelve knives strapped to her back made sure that nobody trifled with her.

And the best part?

She could get rid of any of that in a jiffy. The knives on her back were for show- the good looks were accentuated by makeup, and the odd colour of her scales was fake- this wasn't how she actually looked on the job.

But damn, that getup made sure no dragons got within ten feet of her.

She bared her teeth at a Sandwing who was trying to make a pass at her, and then slapped away the hand of an obvious pickpocket.

This was all show, but it served a purpose. As she wandered around, the word would spread through the town, thus ensuring that if anything _suspicious_ happened, she would be the first suspect.

The tavern she was staying in loomed above her- due to the tiny streets and lack of area, the buildings were forced to be as tall as possible. The place was dingy, cramped and smelly- perfect for the type of job she had been employed to do.

As she entered through the salon-style doors, the smell of the tavern hit her like a ton of bricks. Trying to avoid the shifty eyes of the people sitting at the bar, she ran up the stairs and threw herself into her room.

Breathing hard, she walked across the room, stopping at the window so that everybody outside got a good look at whoever was in this room. She knew for a fact that this tavern was also home to some of the 'special' women of the town, and most of this town's men would be on the lookout for them.

She then left the room discreetly and ran over to the other room she had rented, just across the hall. It was absolutely imperative nobody saw her do this- otherwise, her entire cover would be blown. Thankfully, there was nobody on this floor- nobody currently conscious, at least.

She locked the door and removed the knives, tossing them aside. She also grabbed a bottle of water to remove the makeup. And finally, she exerted herself.

The long, graceful legs transformed into shorter, less fun ones. The stunner of a face changed into a small, round one. The eyes remained the same, but everything else became less interesting. The dragon sighed as the last change- her torso becoming smaller and less curvy- was made. It had been hard keeping up the disguise for that long, but she had managed. Now, her dark scales would make it easier to sneak about in the night, and to hide her actual obsidian knives. Her diminutive figure would make it considerably easier to hide, and squeeze into small spaces. And the now shorter but more powerful legs would make running and jumping a breeze.

She looked out of the window. The sun had set, and one of the moons blazed above the town. She had been on this continent for almost twelve years now- and even though this was no Brightest Night, she could still appreciate the beauty of the darkened desert.

 _Better than the fucking heat, I'll say._

But tonight was not for waxing philosophical under the stars- tonight was a night for action; for work.

She grinned. In the darkness, she would be invisible. No wonder most of her acquaintances (she didn't have friends) and enemies knew her as Midnight.

 _Nobody is gonna see me coming._

And she flew out into the moonlight.

 **~ In the desert, about 12 years ago~**

The two dragons were lying under the stars, far, far away from any towns. It would take them at least a week to get to the next one, but they had supplies. This night was one of the few nights that Palm got to spend alone with her daughter, and she sure was going to make it count.

"Did I ever tell you the story of Draco?" she asked.

"No." a sleepy voice said from underneath the wing of the larger dragon.

"Do you _want_ me to tell you the story of Draco?"

"Yes." The voice replied firmly, shifting around to make itself more comfy.

"Alright, settle down." The larger dragon said, before pointing up to the sky. "Can you see that line of stars?"

"Which ones?" the dragonet asked, poking her head out from under the wing.

"Those." The dragon said, pulling the dragonet's head close and tracing a long u-shape across the sky, adding a straight line down and then drawing a triangle onto the end.

"See it now?"

The dragonet squinted, and then gasped. "Oh, it almost looks kind of like a dragon!"

The older dragon laughed and pinched the dragonet's cheeks.

"Still." The dragonet continued, after the giggles had subsided, "why haven't I ever seen that one before?"

"Because it only appears in the northern parts of the Sand Kingdom during winter." The dragon replied nonchalantly. "Now, wanna know what put him there?"

"Yes please!"

The dragonet looked up at the dragon with shimmering eyes- and her mother smiled softly. Life living like this was hard, but it was definitely worth it for moments like these.

"Draco was originally called Ladon. He lived in a garden full of trees that had golden apples all over them."

"Wow!"

"But one day, an evil scavenger came to his garden to steal the golden apples. Ladon fought long and hard, but no matter how hard he tried, he and the scavenger were evenly matched."

"Dirty scavenger!" the dragonet grumbled. Her mother smiled. "Now, now, you haven't heard the rest of the story."

"What? Why? What happens? Does the dragon turn out to be evil? Does the scavenger turn out to be the good guy?"

The dragon laughed loudly, practically wiping away tears. "Wait, wait! Wait for me to finish, at least."

The dragonet nodded, sitting in front of her mother with wide eyes. All traces of sleep had disappeared from her being.

"The dragon then offered the scavenger an equilibrium- leave or be killed. And then something amazing happened-" the dragon leaned in closer to her offspring- "the scavenger SPOKE."

The dragonet gasped.

"He said that he had been set this task by a scavenger deity, and that if he failed to steal some apples, and kill the dragon, he would himself be put to death. He appealed to the dragon, saying that he had wandered the desert for many years before he had found this refuge, and he didn't want to return back home just to be ostracised and killed.

"The dragon felt his heart go out to this young man- he had been in similar pickles before. So he decided to let the scavenger stay with him, his justification was that, at the end of his stay, if the human still wanted to kill him, then he would accept his fate.

"The scavenger accepted, and they lived together for many years. Since they were both living in the garden, their only sustenance was the golden apples. What neither of them knew, however, was that the golden apples made them…." The dragon paused for dramatic effect, as the dragonet looked on fearfully. She could almost see the thoughts flying through the young girl's mind: _conjoined? Ugly? Switch bodies?_

"…IMMORTAL!"

The dragonet gasped once more.

"Naturally, after a few years of living together, they developed an… intimate relationship. And when it finally came time for the scavenger to leave, he couldn't find it in him to kill him. And so, they decided to run away. After many years of running, they finally found a home… among the stars."

And as the dragonet looked to the stars once more, she found herself gasping one last time- for right next to the oddly-shaped dragon, she could suddenly make out an oddly shaped human. The stars that made up the constellation twinkled, making the two seem closer than usual.

"It's- it's- it's beautiful." She admitted. Her mother smiled, putting her wing over her child once more.

"So it is, Onyx. So it is."

 **~Present day, in the sand palace~**

"Oh fuck off, would ya?"

The servant standing in the doorway bowed. "My liege." And then she left.

There was blissful silence, and Onyx sighed in relief. She was sitting at her desk, nursing some more of that herbal tea. This was what her life had deteriorated into; sitting at her table in her tiny room sipping herbal tea and feeling sorry for herself.

"This is the life, huh?" she spoke aloud. The habit of speaking to herself had developed over the past few days as a response to how alone she was.

 _Not that you deserve any better._

Onyx frowned, her mind becoming clouded with dark thoughts. Images of her jumping off the castle tower, her throwing herself into the town reservoir and never resurfacing, a collection of bleached bones in the middle of the desert…

The dragon sipped her tea once more, grimacing at the taste. And then she stopped. And looked into the cup.

The liquid was a pea green, with sediments floating in it. They swirled and ebbed, softly lulling her. Suddenly, a bubble rose to the surface and popped, snapping her out of her trance.

 _This is it._ She realised. She had never been one for deep thought and metaphors, but this was it. The tea was domesticating her- it was her dulling her pain; trying to ignore it, trying to act like it never happened. It was the ultimate symbol of her denial.

"You know what, no." she said. "No. I won't have this. I _refuse."_

She stood up, groaning as her leg throbbed painfully, and hobbled over to the window. She grasped the cup of tea, bringing it up to eye level.

" _Fuck you."_ She whispered.

And then poured the green liquid out of the window.

It splashed down into the gardens, going everywhere. As the stream of steaming tea finished, she upended the cup completely and dropped it into the gardens.

"Good fucking riddance." She said. "If I want to fuck up my life, I'm gonna do it on my own terms."

She turned around and hobbled back to her seat.

 **A/N: I ended the scene here because there's no book equivalent of pan out from window as Onyx walks away to wide shot of entire palace then camera pans up to focus on sun and fade to white.**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **A/N: I've been busting my ass all week studying for this Physics test. Our professor decided that we were slacking, so he pulled out the big guns and told us that he would be giving us EIGHT chapters. EIGHT. In our syllabus, that's at least 300 pages worth of very confusing textbook.**

 **IN A WEEK.**

 **FUCK THAT GUY.**

 **In other news, it has recently come to my attention that my characters don't really have consistent voices. As in, when I look at a certain character, I can't really imagine them speaking to me in a consistent tone. This really sucks. So, as a professional, I did the first thing that came to mind and made an extensive Access database. That one DBMS class I took isn't going to waste! Anyways, I've come up with consistent characters and voices for all of them. Now, most fic writers would change this stuff, not tell their followers, and move on. However, I am coming clean. And the reason I'm telling you this huge mistake I've made is-** _ **HONESTY AND INTEGRITY.**_ **And because I respect all of you as readers.** __

 **Who am I kidding, the real reason is that those characters don't really fit with the dialogue they've had in previous chapters. For instance, Pluto. Really butchered that one. Sorry, Saiba-of-the-Nightwings. But, that happens no longer! Starting from this chapter, those voices stay consistent and well defined! I'd rewrite those previous chapters but honestly, school has me by the nads, if you glean my meaning. And its clamping down hard, at that! Anywho, enjoy this new and improved gigantic ensemble of characters that's much harder to write than I initially thought!**

 **I now have considerably more respect for the MLP writers.**

 **Wait, they're getting paid. I'm not.**

… **forget I said that.**

 **Also, hi Sandshadow9!**

 ***crickets***

 ***whispers* iloveyousomuch**

 **And now, Me, but obsessed with music!**

 **Musical side of me: There is literally no difference between the two of us. Anyways, start off with Gasoline by Halsey. And, in the second scene, try Prophecy by Adrian von Ziegler. And that's it.**

 ***silence***

 **BUY GOLD Y'ALL!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~Location: "That is for me to know, and for you to wonder, at least until the end of the section."~**

 _Thunder-_

 _Thunder and lightning across-_

 _Lightning-_

 _Light-_

 _It hurt him so-_

The sky was a dark meld of blacks, blues and greys- with a streak of purple interrupting the thick clouds. In the distance, a single tree stood. Between him and it; maybe a mile of lush grassy plain, the strands swaying gently in the wind. Behind him, there was a gigantic forest; trees with gnarled roots and many teeth.

In the distance, some mountains loomed, with some boulders of various sizes scattered in front of them and on the slopes. The gloomy atmosphere and absolute and complete silence made everything seem much, much creepier.

And as Kiwi stood in the centre of all of this, a forest behind him, plains to the right, a moor to the left, and a tree ahead and- plus some mountains, he realised he had no idea how he had got there.

"Well, shit."

A sound drifted across the moor. He jumped and turned to face it.

"Who's there!" he yelled instinctively, and then slapped a talon over his mouth. _Crap, crap, crap._ He'd forgotten the one thing he'd learned from all those scrolls- never, _never,_ make a sound.The noise came again. It sounded a bit like- it was hard to explain; a deep sound, loud enough that he could hear it from this far away, but slightly artificial- he could recognise that it was not natural.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…_ He thought as he frantically looked for the sound. Everything looked washed out, and the noises he was making as his talons rustled on the dead leaves and grass were muffled.

He made one final turn back towards the moor and gasped-

 _I am so, so, SO FUCKED._

Rolling over the moor was a twenty-foot wall of fog- and rolling fast, at that. Tendrils were already curling around his talons. This was no pansy fog- the second that cloud was upon him, he probably wouldn't be able to see his own snout.

So he did the logical thing. Attempted to take off. Would've worked too. If only his wings hadn't immediately given way and he'd plummeted back to the ground.

Kiwi spat out dirt and desperately tried again- to no avail. He plummeted once more, and then the fog was upon him.

It was much, much thicker than he could ever have expected. He could feel it settling deep into his lungs, and it was so cold that it hurt to even inhale.

And the wobbling, reverberating sound was back. It rumbled over the landscape, causing him to lose his balance. As he fell, a silhouette appeared in the fog.

As his snout crashed into the ground, Kiwi noticed that the surface seemed different somehow- it was more sandy-like; more loose. The temperature around him suddenly dropped, so as he got unsteadily to his talons, his breath frosted in the air.

"That's as close to breathing fire as you're ever going to get."

Kiwi whirled to face the voice, fear rising in his throat as he recognised the sunny tones-

"Mom."

"Hello, Kiwi." Said his mother, the smile on her face large and unnatural. She spread her arms as if inviting a hug. "Come to moth-"

Before she even finished the sentence, Kiwi had kicked some of the loose sand into the air, blinding her, and taken off.

"NOPE!" he yelled over his shoulder in response to her shriek and began pumping his wings- _hey, I can fly again!-_ as hard and fast as possible. He needed to get away from that- that _thing,_ whatever it was. One thing it _wasn't,_ though, was his mother. She wouldn't be caught deadin a place like this. And, considering that there was no sun, if she was here, she would be asleep.

 _C'mon, she wasn't that bad._ A tiny voice inside his head piped up.

 _YES SHE FUCKING WAS._ A million other voices screamed.

Kiwi shook his head and continued flying. He was almost at the mountains- just a few more minutes and he could find a nice cave in which to hide until this all blew over.

"Nope!"

The Thing that wasn't his mother suddenly dropped down in front of him, causing him to swerve violently. The g-force made his ears pop, but he pulled out of the dive he had been in and continued flying towards the mountains- even if she was right on his tail, at least the boulder-populated slopes would provide him with cover.

"Come back here!"

Time seemed to slow for Kiwi. He was suddenly hyperaware of everything around him- the wind currents sliding across his scales, the clouds slowly continuing to creep across the sky, the Thing that wasn't his mother- _y'know what, just call it the Thing,_ his mind interrupted- shooting towards him, her talons outstretched, the cold tendrils of fear tightening around his heart.

Its talons tore right into his snout, and he howled in agony. The pain hit him like a falling tree, and he couldn't focus on anything anymore.

And then she came back with another hit.

 _It's over, isn't it? Isn't it over…_

He was falling, and he knew it. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care. It hurt so, _so, so_ much, that he couldn't really do anything.

He opened his eyes to find that the ground was maybe twenty feet away. He screamed-

 **~Jade Mountain, maybe 6 in the morning~**

Green woke up to the sounds of arguing.

The light from the torch burning out in the hallway wasn't exactly in her eyes, but it was close. She shuffled to put her talons over her eyes with minimal movement, but it didn't help with the noise.

 _Damnit, this better be important._ She thought as she stretched and smacked her lips, trying to ignore the horrid taste in her mouth. _It's too early for me to be awake anyways._ The sun hadn't yet risen.

She had always been a light sleeper- in fact, Blue often had to put his talons over her ears so she wouldn't be woken up by his breathing. So, naturally, it was no surprise that she would be disturbed by an argument taking place- presumably- only a few rooms away.

The noises rang out along the hallway, and it was miracle- at least to her- that nobody else had been woken up.

 _Good lord._ She thought, dragging herself out from underneath Blue and yawning as she dropped down to the cave floor, her leg aching as it did most mornings. As she shook her head to wake herself up, she stubbed a talon on something that had been lying on the ground.

"OW-"

Hands over her snout muffled her voice. She tore them off and started massaging her throbbing appendage.

" _Keep it down, would you?"_ the now-familiar voice of Pluto whispered behind her. She whipped her head around to glare at him, but apparently the effect was lost.

" _I'll do whatever I want."_ She whispered back, but he waved her off.

 _The little-_ her mind began, but then Green noticed something- the arguing had gotten louder. She pushed past Pluto, who attempted to pull her back but failed, and strode down the hallway. After a few seconds of deliberation, the Nightwing followed, grumbling.

As they rounded the corner of the hallway and started down the other, the sounds suddenly became understandable.

"Oh, fuck you!"

"Well, fuck you right back!"

"I SAID IT FIRST!"

She and Pluto looked at each other worriedly, all animosity- at least for the moment- forgotten, and continued walking down the hall.

At the end, the hallway opened into a gigantic cavern, which doubled as the entrance to the school- a kind of landing pad for visiting dragons, if you will. There stood a group of Rainwings, arguing wholeheartedly with the teachers, who had all assembled. Most of them were standing off to one side. The only exception was Tsunami, who was cursing loudly at the other party.

"They are STUDENTS! You do not just get to SWEEP THEM AWAY whenever YOU WANT!"

"It's a free world."

"NOT IN JADE MOUNTAIN IT ISN'T!"

"Just two weeks ago, those two were wandering all over the continent."

"THAT WAS DIFFERENT."

"Tsunami…" one of the teachers- _Clay,_ she thought as she recognised the eccentric Mudwing- spoke up. "Are you certain that _this_ is the hill you're willing to die on?"

" _Every hill is a hill I'm willing to die on."_ She growled, not breaking eye contact.

The head of this other group coughed politely to get their attention. He tried to look serious, but the various shades of neon yellow jumping over his scales were not doing him any favours.

"Look, if you all understood why this is important, you would agree that your students- Moon and Qibli, was it? Need to come with me."

 _Moon and Qibli._ Green realised with a jolt. _The ones who saw us in the Rainwing forest._

If the two of them were going away, there would be no threat to her and Blue anymore. No more worrying, no more creeping around the school, no more fear of being called out. She-

" _Green, we need to move."_ Pluto hissed.

Green shook herself out of her reverie and followed Pluto down the hall. The two groups had dispersed- evidently, they were taking this somewhere more private.

When she voiced this opinion to Pluto, he snarled. "Should've done it fifteen minutes ago. Woke me right up. Ended up bashing my head on that ledge again…"

She tuned his complaining out and began wondering what this entire situation was about. Why would the Rainwings need Moon and Qibli? And would the two of them going away really solve all the problems she and Blue had?

Shaking her head- _you can worry about all this later_ \- she decided to focus on not getting caught. Already, she had almost given them away when Pluto had abruptly stopped at a corner, and she had rammed into him.

"Come on in, guys." The bright voice of Sunny echoed down the hallway. "We have snacks!"

Pluto looked over to her. She shrugged, and they moved on.

Coming up on the door that the dragons had gone through, she and Pluto had to be extra careful. She had no interest in being caught and subsequently questioned- and she was certain Pluto didn't either.

"Is this place truly private?" one of the Rainwings asked.

The two dragons ducked back around the corner moments before Webs stuck his snout out of the door, looked up and down the corridor, and called out "Nobody's here."

"Relax." Tsunami scoffed. "All our students are still asleep."

 _They would've been if you had maybe DONE THIS EARLIER._

Green groaned, feeling a migraine coming on. And to add insult to injury, Pluto then proceeded to shush her.

" _We can just listen from here"_ he whispered _. "I know from experience sound travels in this part of the network."_

 _Experience?_ She thought. But she had to stop wondering about that, because the leader of the Rainwing group began speaking.

"Long story short- there exists another continent maybe one or two days flight away from the southern coast of Pyrrhia, the dragons on there are waging war, it's a total bloodbath, one of their prisoners of war washed up in the Sand Kingdom, and those dragonets- Moon and Qibli, yeah- they talked to her and then proceeded to convince Queen Glory to hold a summit with the rest of the Queens to figure out what is to be done. And they're required at that summit. So, we need to take them with us. Capische?"

Pluto looked at her with wide eyes, mouth agape- obviously shocked at this revelation. She avoided his gaze- the last thing she needed right now was for him to figure out she and Blue were part of this whole mess.

"No." the sound of Tsunami's voice echoed in the hallway.

Both the dragons directed their attention towards the room. A thump sounded from inside- it sounded like Tsunami had slammed her talon down onto something.

"You can't just drag students away from this school! No matter what they may have gotten caught up in."

"She does have a point…" Clay mused.

"But-but-but we need them!" the Rainwing appealed.

"No." she repeated.

"Can we leave?" another Rainwing asked, his voice warbly and hoarse. "I want to get back to the Rainforest in time for sun time."

"Huh. Time for sun time." A third one giggled. Then they both broke into laughter.

"You jackasses aren't helping!"

"Tsunami is right." Sunny said. "These students just got back from preventing what could have been a potentially world-ending catastrophe. We'd rather they stay here. Where it's nice and safe _._ "

"Look, Glory and us go back a long way." Starflight piped up. "Just tell her what we told you- she'll understand."

"We're wasting our time, boss. Let's just go." One of the Rainwings said.

 _Oh._

The realisation hit Green hard- this was the potential solution to almost all her problems- at least temporarily. If Moon and Qibli left, there would be absolutely no risk of being identified- _except from that dragon standing right next to you-_ , she could explain their situation to the teachers without worries of bias from those two- _oh, as if you'd do it-,_ it would be perfect. And it wouldn't take that much energy from her side either- sure, she was a bit rusty when it came to influencing the thoughts of more than one person, but hey- if anyone could do it, it would probably be her.

"So," the leader sighed, sounding tired, "what's your final answer?"

 _This is it. Do you have the guts?_

She extended her right talon and closed her eyes.

"Green?" Pluto asked, but she ignored him. _Concentrate, focus…_

Memories came flooding in- the smell of oranges, the sweet melodious tunes of a guitar, the _pain-_

 _Focus…_

She gasped as it felt like a hot knife forcing its way into her skull-

And she was in.

"Yes." Tsunami said amicably.

The gasps from the other people in the room were audible even out in the hallway. She needed to work fast.

"Tsunami, what are you-" Clay was interrupted halfway into his sentence. "Yes." He said after a second of silence.

"I agree."

A chorus of yes's rose from the room.

"Green?" Pluto whispered, sounding scared.

Once more, she ignored him. She'd deal with him later- its not like he would tell anybody, or she would just tell other people his secret. Or threaten him. As Blue had reliably informed her on multiple occasions, she could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

"Green, your nose…"

 _Shit._

Now she felt it- thick blood rolling down the inside of her right nostril, and then leaking out onto her face. She felt an almost uncontrollable urge to wipe away at the hot liquid, but she resisted.

 _Just a few more seconds…_

And- there. She breathed deeply and stepped back, wiping away at her face.

"What was that?" Pluto asked.

She shushed him.

 _Damn, that was satisfying._

"Well," Tsunami began, "this is a matter of all of our safeties. And its not like anything wild is going to happen, is it? It's just a summit."

 **Mini A/N: If only she knew…**

"So, just to clarify," the Rainwing began, obviously confused, "you're letting us take them?"

"Yeah. It'll teach the two of them diplomacy; hopefully some manners, too, I don't see what the problem is."

"What in the world?" Pluto whispered. She could feel his stare boring into the side of her skull.

"Shut up." She whispered back, trying to focus on the conversation.

The Rainwing spoke again. "Well, I never was one to question a good thing, so, erm… lets go, boys."

" _Go, go, go!"_ Green whisper-yelled at Pluto, and ran back down the corridor- or, at least as close as she could get to running with her brace. There was absolutely no way they could be caught- especially after that stunt she had just pulled. But, for some reason, Green wasn't worried.

 _It's been a while since I did that._ she thought, a smile on her face. It was like stretching a muscle one hadn't used in a long time- and it felt really, really good.

They ran into their dorm room, where the rest of the Gold Winglet was still asleep.

Green collapsed panting on the ground- her leg throbbing. From experience, she knew that this meant that the rest of the day would be filled with pain.

 _Whoop de doo._ She thought miserably. Then she cheered up, because she and Blue were safe! Well, momentarily, at least.

"What the…" Pluto muttered, presumably to himself.

 _Oh yeah._ She realised. _HIM._

"So, can we talk about what you did… back… there…."

Green slowly stood up, turned around, and looked him dead in the face.

"You will keep your mouth shut about what happened back there, and if anything about this incident ever comes out, I will do what I did to those people in there and make you think you're a hedgehog. Understood?"

Pluto audibly gulped. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still need about an hour's worth of sleep. Bye!"

Her voice became more cheery towards the end of that sentence because she had already began to visualise herself back inside her warm bunk, with Blue pressed up next to her.

 _Heaven._ She thought, as she climbed in and lay down.

 _Now, is this what relaxation feels like?_

 **Another A/N: You know it's gotten bad when it takes you almost three hours of walking around school with people pointing and muttering for you to realise that there is a pen in your hair.**

 **Send help.**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 **A/N:** __ **This sucks.**

…

 **Don't ask questions.**

 **Also, I know I missed the update by like a week, but believe me- there was a reason. Mainly the fact that my teachers ganged up on me, so I now have five different very important exams on the same day.**

 **The. Same. Day.**

 **Let that sink in.**

 **Musical Side of Me: *in corner of room, screaming with mascara running down face* I HEARD THE BODY DROP (6:00 by grandson)**

 **Regular Me: … Yeah, it's not going well. Just throw on some of Pandora Journey's Halloween Mix. That's right around the corner. Different matter that I have exams then too…**

 **Enjoy! I'm not, that's for sure.**

 **~A train on a mountain~**

" _This_ is Gran-gran?"

"Yes!" Alex chirped enthusiastically. "She's possibly the oldest person on the train, so she gets her own carriage!"

The preceding discourse was taking place in possibly the worst of locations: right over Gran-gran's sleeping form.

Not the best of ideas, from an outsider's standpoint.

"The dragon I'm looking for arrived maybe ten or nine years ago. Are you sure that she's the only one here who remembers this?"

"She's the only one who's survived living on the train for this long!" Alex replied, surprisingly gleeful for such a macabre subject. "Excluding me, of course, but I was _way_ to young to remember."

"Could the two of you shut up? I'm trying to get some sleep."

The two dragons looked in surprise to Gran-gran, who had slowly sat up, rubbing her head. "Bloody youngsters, all raucous and uncouth." She mumbled under her breath.

Papery wings unfolded, the skin stretched so thin it was almost transparent. Gran-gran shook herself, got rid of a few annoying cricks, and then sat down again.

"I assume you have a good reason to disturb me, Alexandria and _guest."_

She enunciated the "guest" with a surprising amount of disdain in her voice, and then proceeded to glare at Shimmer, as if to _really_ get the point across.

"Meet Shimmer, Gran-gran!" Alex bubbled. "She's looking for a dragon just like her! You remember him, right?"

Gran-gran assumed a regal pose and regarded Shimmer with a special glee, as a spider regards a fly stuck in its web.

"I might know a bit…" she glanced down at her talons, looking like a toddler who had just been presented with their favourite toy. "Tell me… do you bleed?"

"Excuse me?" Shimmer asked, slightly horrified and very confused.

"Oh, don't mind me!" Gran-gran giggled, shuffling over to a small haystack in one corner of the carriage. "That was just a bit of my humour." She laughed lightly, assuming a place atop the haystack as though it was a throne. "I'm benign."

"Could you please tell me if you saw a dragon like me recently? Please?"

"Depends." Gran-gran responded, grinning like a banshee. "What can you give me in return?"

"I'm- I'm sorry," Shimmer glanced over at Alex, who still had a huge grin on her face. "I don't quite follow."

Gran-gran sighed, esperated. "My dear, I deal in information. So, in order for me to give you some, it only makes sense that you would have to give _me_ some. Understand?"

Shimmer hesitated. "I'm not sure that I would have any information that interests you-"

Gran-gran sighed the sigh of an aristocrat. "Dearie, _all_ information can be useful. But, if you really want a _leading question,_ then why not tell me where you come from and what you are?"

"Well, I come from a continent across the sea called Pyrrhia, and I'm a species known as a Rainwing."

Silence.

Gran-gran put a hand to her mouth and yawned exaggeratedly. "Booooooring. C 'mon, you've got to have _something?"_

"Well, I came here looking for my son, Kiwi. I thought he'd be here, but he came here at most a week ago- not nine years."

Gran-gran propped her chin up with her talon. She sighed. "Fine."

She settled into her seat and started talking. "About nine summers ago, a dragon washed up on our shores. He was dehydrated, his wings were ripped up pretty bad, and he was delusional. Kept screaming about Pyrrhia. I had no idea what that meant until you showed up and told me that your continent was called that. Alas, we had a duty, so he ended up in the same place you'll end up- Crow Mountain. You can ask him more questions there. If he's still sane, that is."

"What do you mean by still sane?" Shimmer asked, nervously glancing over at Alex, who still looked way too happy for the situation they were currently in.

"Well, most dragons who go to Crow Mountains go insane after about five months. He's been there…" she counted off on her talons "…around twenty times that."

"Almost twenty-one!" Alex piped up, ignoring the glare Gran-gran sent her way.

"Point is, that's your problem, my dear." She continued. "Soon as we get to Crown Mountain, you get off, and we never see each other again. So, toodles!"

Gran-gran turned around and sat down again, content to ignore them until they went away. Alex took her talon and led her into the next carriage, which was thankfully connected in such a way that there was no exposure to wind.

The second they entered, Shimmer sat down hard, gripping her wound. It was much too early after her severe injury for her to be thinking so much.

"So, how was _that?_ " Alex blurted out.

"I think you're under the impression that that was an enjoyable experience." Shimmer deadpanned. "It wasn't."

"For you, maybe." Alex responded. "But Gran-gran raised me, and these days I hardly get to spend time with her, so its always good to see her, even if she _is_ making thinly veiled threats."

"I'm sorry, she raised-" her question was cut off by the door behind them opening again.

They turned to find Gran-gran holding a familiar long-snouted Silverwing up by the scruff of his neck.

"This belong to you?" she asked.

 **Mini A/N: I imagine Gran-gran to be kind-of a female John Cleese.**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 **A/N: Hilarious story I have to share with you guys today.**

 **So I gave the ACT this (Saturday, when I'm writing this) morning, and somehow I finished early on every section. So, I was pretty bored. So I started doing all sorts of random stuff. But that meant that by the time the 15 minute break rolled around, I had nothing else left to do. I had already exhausted all my options. So get this.**

 **I took the marker we were using to write on our scratch sheets and used it to make a list of the subplots going on in this story on the lid of my calculator, which is a TI-84 Plus, for context. It was lots of fun, and it gave me inspiration to write this chapter!**

 **So yeah, thank goodness for boredom. Otherwise, I might have missed another update!**

 **And since I missed the update by two days last week, why not put this out one day early?**

 **Do ya guys forgive me?**

 **Musical Side of me: Get that When the party's over by Billie Eilish going!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~Underground~**

The wind was strong today.

Air rushed from the gaping holes in the caravan walls, flowing out one end and into the other. The sounds of howling echoed through the town, and the fire in the centre was dangerously close to sputtering out.

Jasmine was sitting in her room, peeping out of her shuttered windows. On days like these, all the residents were told to stay indoors. The rule had been enforced ever since one of the youngsters had wandered out, been picked up by a particularly strong gust, and sent into the caverns. He was never seen again.

Her parents were in the other room. Even now, with all the noise, their voices could be heard over the wind. They had been fighting every day for a while now, about money, or about the shortage of food, or how they should really get rid of her grandpa.

She never understood that last one. Why would they want to get rid of him? He provided most of their income, and they would be out on the streets without him. Also, he was a really nice person. So why?

It wouldn't come to that, of course. Eventually, they would reconcile, and life would go on.

The tremors erupted just as they began screaming even louder. She clung to the windowsill as the world shook and tossed and threw their little city about, like a boat on the sea. She had never seen the sea, but it seemed terrifying.

They didn't even notice as she waited for a lull in the winds, and threw open the shutters, launching herself into the air, eager to escape to the caverns above.

They didn't notice much.

The tremors were getting worse, day by day. The entire point of them building their city down here was that they would be safe from… the others, as her father would have put it. Her father was part of the older generation- her mother was part of the younger. She remembered her father telling her about the above-ground once, where the air was fresh and plant life grew without magical help. Her mother was only a few years younger, but that meant she had been born down here, and had never seen the above-ground. That was actually the thing that her parents fought the most about- no matter how their arguments started, they always ended with how her mother had never seen the above-ground; and was therefore subordinate.

Granpappy had once called that argument retarded.

Her father had slapped him.

The tremors echoed through the cavern. She was still heading up, fighting the strong winds. It was a bad day to be out exploring, but she didn't really have a choice. Eventually, the voices would become loud enough, some cutlery would be thrown, and then eventually, they would start exchanging blows.

And Jasmine would be engulfed with rage, and then space would bend around her, and then everything would be normal again. Her parents would be sitting at the table nonchalantly, acting as they would before an argument. Except Jasmine would be sitting there too, her nostrils and talons smoking, the red slowly dissolving from her vison, gasping at the revelation of what she had done.

Eventually, she learned to leave the house whenever an argument was in the air, because she couldn't afford to perform magic in front of her parents. That would be- to put it mildly- disastrous.

But that was hard on days like these.

She struggled against the air currents, trying- and failing- to make any progress.

Suddenly, the tremors started again- this time louder and stronger than ever.

A gigantic rock fell from the cavern wall and fell towards her.

 **~In a cave on a tundra~**

"I'll need you to slow down, so that I can actually understand what happened." Bright deadpanned.

Kiwi screamed some inane gibberish and gesticulated wildly with his arms.

Bright gasped. "You were stuck in a sort of limbo where a demon appeared in the guise of your mother and almost killed you when you tried to flee but it was all a dream?"

Kiwi stared. Bright shrugged. "I'm pretty good at charades."

 **Mini A/N: I'd like to thank Ducktales for that joke. Moving on.**

"But still, that's not the point." He continued. "I remember some people back in the military who also had recurring nightmares, and there are some cures. But that's only for _recurring_ nightmares- this nightmare has only taken place once. So, unless you have it again, I can't really help."

Kiwi sighed softly and flopped down onto the cold stone of the cave, next to the dying embers of the fire. He looked lonely and cold, curled up like that.

"Ah, goddamnit." Bright muttered before walking over to him and lying down next to him, providing him with more body warmth. "You owe me one."

The snows swirled outside the cave. Over the next mountain lay a huge military base, where thousands of Silverwings slept in battle tents. They were to scour the surrounding areas for the one Sapphirewing that had survived a surprise assault on his battalion. He was probably dead, but they had to be sure.

Among the masses, there stood one dragon at the centre of all attention. She was their general, commanding this search. Her final words rang out through the night.

"We want him dead or alive."

"Preferably dead."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **A/N: (edit from like thr\e day b4 I post this- im very verry very ill abd cant see snd help)**

 **Satan take the wheel, please.**

 **Musical Side of me: Gladly. Start off with the piano cover of His Brightest Star was You by Andrew Wrangell. For the second half, the one that takes place downstairs, put on Mannequin by Crystal Knives.**

 **~In the Sandwing castle~**

Onyx wasn't feeling too good.

Her leg was still throbbing in pain, she was still plagued with insomnia, and worst of all, she was extremely dehydrated.

Yet she persevered. Her newfound determination meant that there was absolutely no way that she would just give up and let the guards behind her help. She would do this on her own- even if it killed her.

Sweat trickled down her spine as her vision swam in and out of focus. The door was there… right there…

She stretched her front talon out and pushed it open, collapsing on the floor as she fell in.

"How nice of you to drop in." a voice she absolutely hated at this point said.

"How long did you take to think up that knee slapper, you pasty fuck?" she groaned as she peeled herself off the exquisite carpet.

The Sandwing got up from his chair and walked over to the door, making an obscene gesture at the guards that had accompanied her before slamming the door shut. Turning around, her replied "Well, none of the brothels had anything to my fancy, so quite a long time."

Onyx grimaced. "You know, its you that needs a therapist more than me."

The Sandwing grinned, content to stand by the door. "I'm a sex-craved lunatic, I'll admit. You, on the other hand, are a failed murderer. So, kindly reconsider."

Onyx slumped down into her chair. It's not like he was wrong. "Those words have really lost their edge at this point, you realise."

"That _is_ the point, my dear. The more those words lose their edge, the more you'll realise that those words are not what define you. Sure, they can _become_ what defines you, but considering what you've been doing to yourself for these past few days, I highly doubt that's what will happen."

"That's… possibly the most backhanded compliment anybody's ever given me."

"I aim to please. Take that _any_ way you want."

"Eww."

There was a pause.

"Wait, won't your telling me this lead to me knowing your motives, and therefore the entire thing not working at all?"

"Here's the weird thing- I've done research into this, and no. Even if you know exactly what is happening, it'll still have the same effect."

"That's rather interesting."

"Indeed, it is."

Another pause.

"That'll be all."

"OK."

Their meetings didn't drag on for long. Most of the emotional trauma and suicidal feelings Onyx had had had come pouring out of her in that first session, and these days, with her extreme training sessions, there was little time for her to dawdle. He could respect that.

Onyx struggled to her feet and started towards the door. The Sandwing made no move to help her.

She exited through the door, hissing at the guards who tried to help her along. One of them closed the door behind her.

The Sandwing sat back down and pulled a string. It travelled freely for about an inch, and then met resistance. He looked down at it, confused, and pulled it again. Then again. Harder. And harder.

"Why won't you work?" he groaned as he tugged at it.

"Ahem." A voice cleared its throat behind him.

"Not now, I need to collapse that wall."

A razor-sharp talon lay itself against his throat. At this, he groaned.

"Queen Thorn." He said. "That wall is broken."

"Rebuilding walls costs money. And time. And I'd rather not have to rebuild a wall every time me and my husband need to sit in on one of Onyx's sessions."

"But theatrics!" he groaned.

"Shut up." Smoulder said, falling into a chair opposite the Sandwing. The former prince sighed deeply, putting his head in his talons. "I'm worried. What she's doing to herself isn't healthy. And I don't know what to do about it."

The Sandwing contemplated this for a while. "Let her keep doing it."

Both Smoulder and Thorn gasped in shock. "What?" Thorn asked menacingly.

"Let her keep doing what she's doing." The Sandwing replied calmly. "It's obviously helping her- mentally, if not physically, she doesn't feel as worthless anymore, not to mention that if you try and stop her, she'll hate you even more than she does now."

At the mention of the word 'hate', Smoulder flinched. Seeing this, Thorn squeezed the Sandwing's shoulder, perhaps discreetly indicating he should change the subject.

He didn't do that.

"With all due respect, Queen Thorn, former Prince Smoulder, you aren't paying me to mince words. Your daughter hates you. It may not be entirely your faults- I'll admit a lot of this is on her. But you can't deny the bad decisions that have led us to this point."

Smoulder sighed once more, and the Sandwing could see that he was struggling to hold back tears. He looked up, avoiding eye contact, and asked through a trembling voice "Is there anything- anything we can do to change that?"

The Sandwing thought on it. "Don't act like you two know more than her- while in some cases that might be true, she won't take kindly to it. Don't try to act like her parents- she's lived sixteen years without either of you, so it's going to take time. Don't act like what you-" at this he looked pointedly at Smoulder, "-did to her didn't happen. It did. Don't you shy away from that. Try to make her understand the reasons, but don't force it. She'll take a while to come around, but come around she will. Be her friends- her accomplices, if you will. Thorn, you could perhaps help her with what she's currently trying to do- help her avoid hurting herself, for a start. Smoulder… you just talk to her. It's not much, but it's a start. Keep talking to her, and eventually you'll figure out what to do."

Smoulder smiled, and choked out a warbled "Thanks."

"That'll be all." The Sandwing said.

 **~Downstairs~**

"Oh, come on!" she yelled, frustrated. "You can do better than that!"

Her nose was bleeding badly, her talons were aching, and the sand was cooking the underside of her torso, but none of those were going to stop her. "Be a fucking man!"

The soldier at the other end of the arena had such a comically frightened expression on his face that Onyx almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

The arena was empty at this time of the day, for two reasons- one, it was too hot for any sane person to be fighting there, and two- she made sure everybody knew it was reserved for her.

The sun beat down hard, making her concentration even worse. Still, it was better than the first time she had tried it- after ten minutes, she had had to go inside. Now, she could spend hours out here.

He looked to his commanding officer- on the side-lines with the rest of his squadron- who said nothing; he just nodded.

Understanding that he really had no other chance, the soldier- who was probably no older than her- got into a battle stance. Onyx grinned. This was it.

Unsure of himself, the soldier charged her.

She screamed an ear-piercing battle cry, and prepared to take the brunt of the first blow.

It hit her hard, and the sharp bones on the other dragon's face opened up shallow cuts all along her chest, but she had her next move planned out- she grabbed the front talons of the other dragon and swiped them out from underneath him, causing him to hit the ground hard. She prepared to knock him out, ignoring the excruciating pain-

"STOP!"

Onyx looked up to see Thorn hurrying across the arena.

 _Fuck._

"What in the HELL, Onyx?" she yelled, dismissing the soldiers with a wave. Onyx lifted her talon to let the soldier she was fighting go, and he scurried away as fast as he could manage.

"See you later!" she called out cheerily, before turning to face Thorn. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." The queen replied. "Except WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING?"

"Training!" she protested half-heartedly. "It helps me out."

"YOU COULD'VE DIE-" Thorn stopped shouting, instead choosing to breathe deeply, squeezing her eyes shut. "Ten… nine… eight…"

As Onyx stared, Thorn counted down to one, and then opened her eyes once more. "You could've died, Onyx. You know you're not well, don't you?"

"Actually, I was doing just fine." Onyx retorted.

Thorn glared, slowly raising a talon to point at the cuts on her chest.

"I had him! These aren't important."

Thorn sighed. "Onyx, you don't know how to fight."

She held up a talon to stop the immediate retort. "At least, not properly. So, how about this- I'll teach you everything I know- as long as you promise not to do anything stupid."

"Question." Onyx interrupted. "What constitutes stupid?"

"Forcing guards to fight you."

"Thought so."

"So, do we have a deal?"

Onyx considered. Sure, this could be interpreted as giving in. More importantly, it would help her with her training, stop her being an invalid for the rest of her life, and- of course- it would feel _really_ good to beat Thorn down in a fight.

"Deal."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 **A/N: One misdiagnosed case of conjunctivitis, fucking examinations, deadlines raining cats and dogs, a bad case of temporary blindness, submission of a total of 50,000 words worth of school reports, a new computer keyboard, both my legs breaking (almost) and possible retinal detachment later….**

 ***stumbles into camera frame wearing Rap Boy** **TM** **costume and sunglasses***

 ***clears throat***

 **Guess who's back?**

 **Play Golden Sky by God is an Astronaut over the entire thing, except when Kiwi wakes up. Then try some of Beautiful Morning by Kanye West or whoever. And put some 42DE Fall of the Moon over the rest.**

 **~Flashback time~**

" _We want him dead or alive."_

" _Preferably dead."_

 **~Back in the tundra~**

The sun rose over the tundra. It was the first clear day in a few weeks, and so the light reflected off the snow, producing incredible glares of light, dancing in and out of the vision of one watching.

Bright blinked his eyes as the light passed through an icicle, causing an annoying shimmer in his vision. He rubbed his eye, trying to block out the shimmer. It didn't work. He glared at the culprit, and concentrated. Suddenly, the icicle turned to water, and fell to the floor of the cave. Bright settled down again.

Even though the sun was shining brightly, it was absolutely freezing. The flame he had set inside of himself was still burning, although slowly. And that made him even more thankful for the dragon pressed up against his right flank.

Kiwi was curled up around him, clutching him as one would a favourite blanket. It was kind of adorable.

"I really don't want to do this, you know." He whispered to the Rainwing's sleeping form.

The only response was a snore.

The Sapphirewing sighed.

 _It's time, kid._

His father had always raised him with a military type mindset. That meant that whatever happened, there was a set of rules laid out for him. That way, he could never mess up.

 _Didn't help, did it, you worthless piece of shit?_

He sighed. Back again.

This happened sometimes. He would imagine that his father was in his head, berating him for everything he had done wrong. Often, it was just a coping mechanism- a way to deal with when his father _actually_ got to know about what he had done and yelled at him.

That wouldn't be happening anymore.

One of the things his father had taught him was to put everything that had ever bothered him during a fight into a box. And lock that box, and keep it in the corner of his mind. Not to loose that box, no, because they would come back to the box later. Just to ignore it for the length of the battle.

Well, he had kept the box closed for the past few days. And now, with nobody else around, he could open it.

 _Quit bitching and get it over with, you fucking faggot._

Typical.

He opened the box.

 _ **~F….lashback!~**_

 _It had been, quite possibly, the worst day of his life._

 _First, his father had yelled at him again. For what? Because he had overslept._

" _Except, Dad, we don't have anything else to do today. Remember? Because it's a holiday? The first one I've had in_ three months _?"_

 _He didn't understand._

" _Holiday's aren't for resting!" he retorted._

" _Yes they are." Bright retorted. "That might be the definition of Holiday!"_

 _He stepped outside. Any longer inside that cramped tent and he might say something he regretted._

 _Stopping near a nearby stream, he splashed the cool water over his face. It hurt, but it woke him up. He took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down._

 _A talon lay itself on his right shoulder._

 _He shuddered and turned around._

 _His father towered over him, glaring down. Bright flinched, waiting for the hit that would inevitably come-_

 _The older dragon plopped down next to him._

" _I'm sorry, Bright." He said, softly._

 _The words hit him like the punch that had never come. "What?"_

" _I'm sorry about everything that I've done." His father continued. "I'm sorry that you had to deal with my rage, my- my anger towards myself."_

 _Bright remained speechless._

" _I'm sorry that your mother died before you ever got to know her. I'm sorry that I got you here. I'm- I'm just sorry."_

 _He looked so pained, it almost physically hurt. And so, even though his mind was racing with_ 'Wait, you can't just do that!' _and_ 'Do you even comprehend what you've put me through.' _and_ 'That doesn't change anything!', _what actually came out of Bright's mouth was "I forgive you."_

 _He looked up to find his father smiling at him. "You'll be fine, champ. Take the day off. You've earned it."_

 _Still stunned, Bright walked back to his tent._

 _His father had never done anything like this before. Ever. Much less acknowledge his wrongdoing. He always just pretended that it was all to make Bright a better fighter. This was-_

 _He stepped on something sharp and yelped. Falling onto a nearby bed, he pulled the object out of his talon- to find it was a shard of stained glass._

" _What?" he asked himself subconsciously, before looking to the ground. Tiny shards peppered the dirt, leading in a clear arc to- under the very cot he was lying on._

 _He looked under the cot to find-_

" _That explains it."_

 _-a broken bottle of champagne. It was pretty clear what had happened- his father had gotten blind drunk and suddenly decided that his son was worth talking to._

" _Ah well."_

 _He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth- even if the gift horse was drunk. Avoiding the glass carefully, he got out of bed, and set off, aiming for one of the snow-capped mountains in the distance._

 _His squadron had been positioned here as backup for the Sapphirewing squadron battling Silverwings on the border. Through negotiations of treaties and such, it had been made clear that neither side could attack these backups, unless they were expressedly involved in the battle. That meant they spent their days just training, being bored out of their minds, and training some more._

 _His father was a general here, and one of the lower ranked ones. His drunkenness and poor taste had kept both him and Bright out of the actual army, and even here he was always prone to being discharged at any moment._

 _After a few minutes of flying, he found what he was looking for- a knoll in the vast, unending prairie. He had been coming here to hide every time he couldn't stand his father's antics- which had been a_ lot _of times over the past few months they had camped out here._

 _Dropping down, he landed comfortably on the long grass. The air was bitterly cold, but felt good to breathe. And, of course, the vistas were absolutely stunning._

 _Stretching out in front of him; a massive plain, all edges and contours and dips and rises. The prairie sloped downwards to meet it, and the mountains stood on the horizon like scarecrows._

 _The monolithic glacier was incredible to look at- white and blue and green- but in that beauty was much danger. Bright remembered the story of a young scout who had wandered down into the caves below the surface of the glacier, and had never been seen again. The older dragons claimed it was a spirit who lived in the depths, and the groans and creaking coming from the glacier were the sounds it made as it moved around. While he might have believed that a few years ago, he was sixteen, and that meant he wasn't going to be scared by some old wives tale. After having sat at the knoll for a few days, he had realised something- the entire mass of ice was slowly moving down the mountain. That would explain everything, and would explain the danger- the caves would forever be changing. It would be a labyrinth down there._

 _A bell tolled in the distance. He sighed. A single toll meant a meeting. And since his father was a general, that meant he would have to attend too._

 _He rose into the air and sped back towards camp._

 **~In real life~**

The morning sunlight was harsh in Kiwi's eyes. The icicles across the entrance created shadows that stretched across the cave floor, leading to one of his eyes obscured with shadows- while the other was exposed to the light.

 _Curses. Non-symmetry._ He thought as he peeled himself off the floor, and unwrapped his wings from Bright, who seemed to be meditating.

The colours played across the valley, yet an interesting phenomenon was playing out- because they were in an incredibly sunken valley with huge cliffs covered with snow and ice, the noon sun was casting crazy shadows in all directions. It was almost too bright to see.

 _Speaking of bright…_ Kiwi thought as he walked back inside, "Bright?" he asked the Sapphirewing tentatively.

No reaction.

"Bri-ight?" he asked again, putting the emphasis on the 'I'.

Nothing.

"Sleeping in, huh?" Kiwi asked, almost to himself. Just to make sure there was nothing wrong, he felt along the ridges of his neck to find the pulse. It seemed about standard. A quick inspection of the wound showed that, though the bandages were spoilt, most of the initial healing was about done, and they wouldn't be required anymore.

 _Ideally,_ the voice of the healer back home said in his mind, _the wound should be given alternating cold and warn compresses during- and for at least an hour after- removal of the bandages._

"Right, right." He muttered, scurrying outside to collect some snow. He packed it into his canvas bag, and started pulling off the bandages for good. At the same time, he contracted his wings closer to conserve body heat. Not only was he starting to really feel the cold, but since he didn't have a reliable source of heat, his torso would probably have to act as the warm compress.

Once the bandages were off, he tossed them aside, and began running the bag over the general area of the wound, holding it in place for a few beats of the pulse, and then moving elsewhere. Once that was done, he settled down into the same position they had slept in last night, and stared out into the valley.

Interestingly, since they were in such a sheer valley, the shadows had already begun growing, even though it was just past noon. It made sense- the sun would, at this point, be directly overhead and behind them.

The cold and warm compresses continued for a good amount of time. Kiwi couldn't be sure because, to be honest, the cold was starting to numb his senses. After at least a few hours, he realised with a start he had begun to loose feeling in his tail.

Sitting on it for the next hot compress cycle helped, but the tundra was taking its toll on him.

They needed to move.

Casually, Kiwi walked to the ridge to see how much daylight they had left in the day-

And froze.

And then dropped to the ground, panting hard.

 _Shit, shit, shit…_ ran through his mind as he focused to make himself the same colour as the rock surrounding him. He slowly crawled to the rim, and looked over.

 _Aw, fuck._

Silverwings littered the valley below them, covering huge amounts of ground every minute. Their reflective scales shimmered in the partial night of the chasm.

 _Why the fuck did I not see them before?_ He thought, perplexed. And then nearly bashed his head against the rock when he realised,

 _The snow is fucking reflective._

It was so bright in the morning because of the snow reflecting all the light back at him- any flashes of Silverwing scale would've been lost in the melee of light and colour. He guessed the only reason that he could see them now was that the light was fading out of the-

 _Wait, did we waste an entire DAY?_

Apparently, yes. It was now late evening.

 _This tundra is fucking with me._ He thought, shivering. After slinking backwards, he ran over to Bright. They needed a plan, and they needed one _now._ The Silverwings were still further down the valley, and wouldn't take long in getting here.

"Bright?" he asked, trying to shake him awake.

Nothing.

"Good lord, BRIGHT!" he yelled.

The Sapphirewing's breathing became more laboured.

 _Shit._

A quick check of his pulse confirmed that it was going crazy.

Bright wasn't going anywhere like this.

"Think, think, think!" Kiwi muttered to himself, knocking his skull against the ridges on Bright's back.

 _Ridges…_

The wisps of a plan began to appear.

"Well, if I can't move Bright, then I guess I have to hide him."

 _ **~Back to the past!~**_

 _The simple fact was, he simply wasn't ready for this._

 _He doubted he ever would be._

 _As soon as he had landed, the generals had told them to look out over to the rolling plains behind them discreetly._

 _They had all done so._

 _And quite possibly, all at the same time, noticed the silver glimmering on the horizon._

 _One good thing about those Silverwings? Their scales were so reflective you could literally see them a mile away._

" _Don't just keep staring!" one of the generals yelled. "Otherwise they'll figure out what's up!"_

 _All the soldiers in the crowd snapped to attention, trying to ignore the horde of Silverwings just a few miles away from them._

" _Well, I mean, they can't attack, right? What about the treaty?" a wavering voice cried out from somewhere in the back._

" _All is fair in love and war." One general responded. Another knocked him on the head, and said "Actually, they'd be violating the treaty, unless our forward forces are gone."_

" _What?" the lone soldier yelled._

" _If literally every single soldier fighting against them is dead, we'd be the army. Considering how we haven't got a response from the front lines in a few weeks, I'd say that's likely the case."_

 _The soldier screamed "Why weren't we informed of this before."_

 _The general yelled "Because Madison is a fucking pu-" before being punched by General Madison, who cleared his throat and said "Because I didn't want to cause a panic. Anyways, soldiers, Remy is scoping the size of the danger."_

 _Remy was one of the most powerful Sapphirewings on the planet, and his method of scoping the danger was quite unique. He'd attempt to lift all the water in the dragons he needed to observe into the air, and would then estimate how many dragons were there judging by how difficult it was to do so._

 _Suddenly, a Rubenesque dragon came running over the ridge. It was Remy, and judging by how fast he was attempting to move, it was clear that he had bad news._

" _What is it?" the general barked. "How many Silverwings?" Another asked._

 _Remy panted out an inaudible answer, then cleared his throat to try again. "Unless each of them is carrying twice their weight in water, too many for us to handle."_

 _The crowd erupted into murmurs- the collection whispering to each other what a disaster this was, and how they were all going to die._

" _Is there any way you could be mistaken?" the general asked, attempting to mask the worry in his voice, but Bright knew it was hopeless._

" _They'll be upon us within the hour." Remy shivered. "I don't mean to be a downer, but we don't stand a chance."_

 _Bright could feel the panic rising in the crowd. Even the generals; stoic and stone faced, had worried frowns. All except one._

" _No!" his father yelled loudly._

 _The crowd fell silent._

" _I refuse to believe that we are simply going to roll over and give up!" he yelled loudly. "We are not cowards, fellow soldiers. When we see a problem like this, we overcome it!"_

 _The older Sapphirewing sighed deeply._

" _I have known many of you for over a year, some even longer than that."_

 _He locked eyes with Bright._

" _We have been through thick and thin together- and we have always made it out alive." He continued. The soldiers looked on with piqued interest._

" _No matter how desperate it gets, we will survive. We came here to fight, damnit, and refuse to run away at the first sign of trouble! Who's with me?"_

 _A muted cheer went up from the crowd. The eagle-eyed general looked over the congregation carefully._

" _Each one of you will have to report to your commanders, and if you have any ideas, tell them. We'll have a larger meeting in half an hour, so get your talking points in. Before nightfall, we will be moving out. Understood?"_

 _Each dragon slowly nodded._

" _Good. Dismissed."_

 _The soldiers headed off towards their tents, possibly to pack their belongings and meet with their overseers, while Bright made a beeline towards his father, who was being besieged by his fellow generals._

" _Quite the speech you gave there, commander." One of the newest generals said, with a gigantic shit-eating grin plastered across his face. "It affected me greatly."_

" _Yeah, I mean, look at his erection!" another general exclaimed loudly, as the group burst into laughter._

 _His father caught Bright's eye. "Right. Go off to your posts, get some great ideas, and try to get back here quickly."_

" _Fine by me!" one of the generals said, strolling off in the direction of the tents. "Smell ya later, Jobe!" another waved as he walked away._

 _Bright looked his father right in the eye, and saw the façade slip a bit. The man's eyes crinkled up, and he forced a huge smile._

" _Let's walk."_

~ **Mmmmmm, tastes of tonal dissonance~**

The first order of business was to protect Bright. Even though his pulse had gone down, meaning he was no longer at risk of popping a vein, he was still completely unconscious. Judging by how he looked, Kiwi guessed he was asleep. One of the dragons at his village had lain asleep in the infirmary for two weeks after getting hit by a huge grapefruit, and it seemed most plausible that that was what had happened. Regardless, he could worry about getting Bright awake later- for now, he had to get them both out of harm's way.

"Right." He began, talking aloud to himself. "I can't move him- he's much too big for me to lift, and it would take way too long. Plus, its too cold out there for me-"

 _But is it?_

"Yes, yes it is."

 _It's not. You know that. For short bursts, you can easily step outside._

"Except then I would catch hypothermia and die."

 _Better you than both you_ and _him._

Kiwi stopped dead.

 _I'm right, aren't I?_

"Fuck you too." The Rainwing said as he walked to the front of the cave. Looking at the rocks around him, he concentrated hard. Doing this for too long would lead to a massive headache, but he could bear it for the time being.

As his scales morphed to match the surroundings, he made sure to leave a few patches of pure white on there- to imitate the patches of snow on the rocks. Still, more than a cursory glance would give him away. That meant he'd have to work extra slowly.

He could see from here that the Silverwings were systematically leaving out a few caves set into the rock face- specifically, they would remove a few layers of rock, and then give up, assuming there had been a cave in, he assumed.

 _Welp. Guess you'll have to do the same._

"Oh fuck right off." He whispered softly, getting to work. Moving at maybe a few meters per minute, he began gathering rocks from around them and barricading the entrance to the cave. He'd leave a tiny gap for him to wriggle through, but block up the rest so that Bright would remain safe.

The cold was already biting away at him, and the temperature would probably drop like a boulder off a cliff once night truly fell. Hopefully, he could get it done quickly enough.

Looking over at Bright, who was still stuck in that weird sleep, he sighed.

"You'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

 _We'll make sure of it._

 **I suppose you're getting mighty confused by that voice. Welp. Can't do much about it can i?~**

 _His father kept the smile on his face until they reached their tent. Then he dropped it completely._

" _Those absolute fuckers." He whisper-shouted, trying to keep his voice down. "Those mother fucking assholes!" he punched the cot, realised what he was doing was counterproductive, and began punching the floor._

 _As he raged, Bright noticed that the bottle had been cleaned up. Guess his father wasn't so drunk as to not cover up his misdemeanour._

" _Calm down." He said, putting a talon on his father's shoulder. "What happened?"_

" _They want us to mount a charge." His father raged. "Mount a charge against those Silverwings, while us generals run away."_

 _Bright's heart stopped._ That's why they were acting so happy. _He realised. "Are you going to follow them?"_

" _Hell no!" his father yelled. "I've been part of this regiment for over a year now, so I'm not just going to pack up and leave."_

 _Bright sat down hard. It was all happening too fast- what were they even supposed to do?_

" _What if we retreated south?" he asked._

 _His father looked up "Going south would be suicide."_

" _So would going north- more so, in fact. And we have no cover to the east or to the west. Our one hope is heading south and using the cover of that glacier to head in either direction."_

 _His father deliberated. Bright could see the emotional conflict written all over the man's face._

" _Gather outside in ten minutes. We'll move before nightfall."_

 _Bright got up, ready to pack everything. His father made for the door, and stopped._

" _Bright?"_

 _He looked back._

" _I may not always show it, but I'm proud of you."_

 _He ducked under the flap, and ran out into the fading light._

~ **This chapter is terrible~**

"Damnit, why'd it have to be this cold?"

 _Quit whining you sissy._

"If you were doing this work, you'd crib about it too."

 _Fair point._

The snowflakes were settling between Kiwi's scales, and melting, meaning he was absolutely freezing. Still, at least it distracted him from the back-breaking labour. It was made even harder by the fact that he'd soon realised that he'd have to set the rocks a few feet back from the entrance- otherwise, the Silverwings would be able to see the wall built up. And that also meant he had to slowly roll each stone along the floor.

However, the work was close to finished- or rather, as finished as it was ever going to get. Since the temperature was already pretty far below freezing, and he probably had frostbite everywhere, it was about time he got back to Bright, and some warmth.

Walking over to the ledge, he observed the Silverwings.

"Are they closer?" he wondered aloud.

 _Look at their tracks._

The tracks seemed to end a bit ahead of where they currently were.

"Oh, that's nice. They seem to have retreated."

 _What?_

"Yeah. They got there-" Kiwi pointed out where the tracks ended, "And then went back there."

 _But why?_

"I don't know and I don't particularly care." He piled some more rocks onto the barricade, trying to keep his teeth from chattering.

There was silence as he collected another round of rocks, ready to pile them on. Only a few more, then he would drop a few inside the hole he had left himself, and use it to barricade the rest from the inside. After that, it was simply a matter of waiting the Silverwings out.

 _We're fucking idiots._

Kiwi paused, last load of rocks ready to go. "What do you mean?"

 _Why would the Silverwings only want to search to a certain point, and then go back?_

"Well, we don't even know what they're looking for."

 _You saw how Bright reacted to them. They're obviously the enemy here. Besides, they've been so methodical in their searching, you really think they'd leave specifically this part of the valley unscathed?_

"I have no idea what you're referring to."

 _A pincer movement, dumbass. Another search team is probably circling around the mountain in order to get here. You cover more ground that way, and avoid anybody sneaking out through the ends of the valley. Make sense?_

Kiwi took a moment to process that.

"Fuck."

 _Damn right!_

Kiwi dropped the stones on the ground, crept outside, and looked outside the cave. The Silverwings in sight were standing around, staring at the other end of the valley. Kiwi looked too, terrified of what was there.

At first, he saw nothing. Then he began to make out movement amongst the slopes.

"Damnit, why didn't I see that before?"

 _The cold is messing with your senses. Also, it's almost night. There's barely any light left to reflect off those scales._

"Dangit. Where are they exactly?"

 _Did you hear that?_

"What?"

And then he heard it. A tiny trickle of rock, tinkling against his head. He looked up and saw some more dust, along with loose pebbles, rolling down the slope towards him. He casually sidestepped them, and then heard something.

"You klutz, stop that!"

"Sorry, I slipped."

And the horrible realization kicked in.

 _They're already here._

He ran back into the cave, and dropped the stones into the hole, trying desperately hard to cover it up. There was no way he'd be able to get inside, given how much time he had, and the noises he would make would probably alert the dragons to their positions anyways. He'd have to take his chances out in the open.

 _You'll die of cold!_

"Yeah, but one life lost is better than two." He whispered, tossing the last of the stones on just as the first Silverwing stuck their head into the cave.

He froze completely. Hopefully, his camouflage would keep him safe.

The dragon stared at the wall of stones for a while, and then sighed.

"Fuck this. Yo Angie-" at this, another Silverwing appeared, and swore under her breath. "How 'bout we skip this one, chances are another team will cover it anyways."

"Fine by me." Angie replied, moving off.

The two moved off.

Kiwi simply stood there, unable to process what had happened.

 _Was it really that easy?_

"No, they said other parties would be coming by."

He slowly walked outside, and looked to the right, coming face to face with another Silverwing.

This one was rather buff-looking and huge, but not in the way Bright was- Bright was like a giant koala; very huggable. This guy would probably crush anybody who went for a hug to death.

 _Stay very, very quiet._

The dragon almost looked through Kiwi, and then turned to the cave. "Didn't Angie and Liz just check this one out?"

Another, even buffer dragon landed. "Don't trust them lesbian heathens. We'll search it ourselves."

They went inside.

 _What are you waiting for? Run!_

"Where?" Kiwi whispered desperately.

 _The one place where they won't look._

 _The Silverwing side._

 **~Last one whoooooop~**

Inside the cave, Bright was burning up. Everything going through his mind was getting a bit much for him to process at once. But he couldn't stop now. So he moved on to the next memory, and it pained him, but he kept watching.

Outside, the buff dragons pulled out a few layers, and headed back, sure it was a blockade. Inside, the singular Sapphirewing on this half of the continent glowed a deep red. And he sobbed through the night.

 **~Tune in five years from now for part two of this chapter!~**

 **Merry Christmas, dear readers, and a happy new year to both those who celebrate the birthday of Christ and those who don't (Edit: this should give you an idea about how long ago I meant to post this). Sorry to all those who thought I'd be returning in December, but I have a reason. It's the same reason I'm suddenly obsessed with post rock, and have a different username!**

 **yay…..**

 **Also, school's still an absolute bitch. Writing down all the details will take too long, but suffice it to say I've barely had time to breathe.**

 **And it only gets worse from here on out.**

 **But at least I found a way to include a joke from the Cinema Snob's review of God's Not Dead!**

 ***quiet sobbing***

 **Till next time, dear readers.**

 **BTW- it'll probably be more like two weeks, not five years. Don't panic. Just review. It helps keep morale up here at Anonymous Incorporated!**

 **Also food. Food is good too.**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 **A/N: Yay, bad luck! Although I guess according to , my previous chapter was number 13. Which would explain the distinct lack of reviews.**

 ***glaring at you. Yeah, you, You who didn't review. Do it now.***

 **Ironically, I didn't even know that a new book in the wings of fire series had released until my little brother told me. That makes me sad. I used to be on top of things like this- book releases, album releases, you know. IB is wearing me down.**

 **Just four months left. Four more months. I can do that.**

 **Can't i?**

 **Also why does it appear that Tui is rooting around my mind for plot points and using them before I get a chance to? Although I suppose I kind of have used the one I'm thinking about (hint: it involves Longsnout). It's been set up- now just to reveal it.**

 **EDIT: OH GOD THE CLIMAX? I MEAN, IT MAKES SENSE, SINCE THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO MERGE THE STORYLINES, BUT PURELY DUE TO THAT REASON I WAS USING THE SAME PLOT POINT! WITH THE SAME FUCKING CHARACTERS! I HAD IT ALL PLANNED OUT, AND IT WAS GOING TO BE AWESOME, BUT TUI USED IT AND NOW EVERYBODY WILL THINK I'M RIPPING HER OFF.**

 **Fuck.**

 **Anyways, here's the next chapter**

 **~*to the tune of over the rainbow*Somewhere, over the tundra~**

The snowfall had started up again. Individual flakes that looked grey as burnt wood in the fading light; yet beautiful all the same. Each one appeared to have a completely different, though fully symmetrical pattern.

 _How ironic._

"What?"

 _The things you find so beautiful are going to kill you._

Kiwi shivered. Couldn't argue with that, especially since he was certain he was already developing frostbite. The wind had started up again, which meant that the temperature was dropping really, really quickly. It bit into his skin, and the oh-so-amazing snowflakes were settling between his scales and melting.

Once the healer in his village had treated a Rainwing who had tried to swim to the ice kingdom. The dragon hadn't been very bright. However, she had taught him something very important- the symptoms for pneumonia. Basically, the feeling of freezing to death in the cold was good, because if he began feeling warm, he had pneumonia and was going to die.

 _Just a few more minutes. Then you'll be over onto the Silverwing side._

"Then what?"

 _Rest, recuperate, and wait for them to move on. Then you can go dig Bright back out, and head north. They'll think of you as one of their own, for the time being at least._

"What if they don't?"

 _Then we do what we do best._

"And what's that?"

 _We improvise._

His teeth were, at this point, chattering badly.

"I'm terrible at improvising." He forced out, trying to worm his talons by blowing on them. "Remember that play we put on? Back in the Rainforest"

 _I must say, it was rather entertaining seeing you flailing around because you forgot your lines._

It was just a few more feet until he reached the base of the valley, and that meant he should probably put on his disguise.

Shuddering, he concentrated. Instead of the greyish-black of the rock, he tried to make his scales reflective and metallic like the Silverwings. He was still missing the spikes, and his snout was a bit differently shaped, and he had yet to meet another Silverwing with green eyes, but apart from that, it should be fine.

Walking across the base of the valley, he realised just how strong the winds were. He had to lean against it so much his snout was almost touching the ground.

His joints ached, his head hurt, and his nose was stuffy. He needed a distraction.

"You remember why I forgot the lines?" he asked aloud.

 _No. I always assumed you just didn't know._

"I was looking into the audience, ready to give the performance of a lifetime," he drew in a long, ragged breath. "And I noticed that Shimmer wasn't there."

The Silverwing camp was a few hundred feet more- built in the relative shelter of the cliff face. The only reason he could see it was because there were torches everywhere- presumably being carried by the guards. He still had no idea why they were here- he knew they were after Bright, but why? Were they really willing to stay out here for weeks on end just to make sure one more Sapphirewing died? It made no sense- they probably suspected that an army was sheltering here.

 _She was a bitch, you know._

"Harsh." Kiwi said, but didn't argue.

A few more steps, and suddenly he was stumbling into a clearing- literally. From here until the Silverwing camp, it was all clearly visible.

 _That's pretty cool._ He thought.

 _And deadly._ The voice responded.

And then two Silverwings dropped down in front of him, their torches blazing right in his face.

"Aargh!" Kiwi yelled, startled. The duo looked at him weirdly, and he was terrified that his cover was blown.

"Rookie, where's your partner?"

"Wait, what?" Kiwi said, as the voice asked _There are partners?_

Come to think of it, all the Silverwings they had seen, they had seen in pairs. It made sense too- it was an easy way to make sure they didn't get lost easily.

"Erm, I mean, he snuck off, the little twerp!" Kiwi said in what he hoped was an angry tone. "I asked him to wait outside a cave because he was scared of the dark, and when I came outside he was gone! Probably off with his friends."

The guards stared at him, and despite the cold, he began to sweat. Eventually, one of them facepalmed.

"I swear, you guys are going to be the death of me." The other proclaimed. The first finished pulling his talon down the entire length of his face. "You-" she pointed at Kiwi, and gestured behind him. "Go get warmed up, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." He responded.

"Oh, drop the ma'am." she said. "I hate that."

"Theres's another party, Lo." The other guard pointed at two shapes emerging from what looked like, from this angle, a massive white curtain.

"Let's go." Lo responded, leaping into the air.

Kiwi looked at their retreating forms, and then began flying towards the camp. Judging by the fact that it had probably been set up in one or two days max, it looked really impressive.

 _You think this was the base those Silverwings we saw were talking about?_

"Probably."

 _You realise its entirely possible we won't make it out of here._

Kiwi stopped midair, considering the problem.

"Possible, but very unlikely." He responded, and continued flying.

 _Your overconfidence will probably get you killed one day._

"Probably."

The tundra, even from this angle, seemed to fade into a vast, unending darkness.

 **Your sports team, is vastly inferior…** **"**

Moon was not a morning person.

She usually stayed asleep for at least an hour after somebody had attempted to wake her up, and even then spent the majority of the say stumbling around. Generally, this was compounded by her frequent headaches and powers of prophecy springing up at random times during the day. However, this day's awakening was particularly bad.

Firstly, she had been running all over the continent for the past few weeks- trying to stop a pompous asshole from taking over Pyrrhia. Then she'd had to go to the sand kingdom and profess her love for Qibli (though she didn't see that as a bad thing), and then they both had had to go to the farthest coast of Pyrrhia and meet a Sapphirewing, and then they'd had to fly first back to the Sand Kingdom so Qibli could tell Thorn, though that hadn't taken long, then to the Rain Kingdom, though that hadn't taken long either, and finally to Jade Mountain, where for the first time in over a month, she had had a good night's sleep.

Or not.

There was a sudden explosion of noise outside the room, followed by another explosion of noise inside her head.

"I need to pick up a Moon and a Qibli." An unfamiliar voice called. "Does anybody know where they are?"

 _Oh lord, please let them be here. I don't want to wake up the wrong winglet again._ His voice said inside her mind.

Moon growled, pulling her pillow over her head. It was the first real day of rest she'd got in a long time, and there was no way she was allowing it to be interrupted.

"Guys, it's six in the goddamn morning." Qibli said sleepily, and yawned. "Keep it down."

"Qibli?" Kinkajou asked excitedly. Moon guessed the hyperactive Rainwing was already fully awake. "What do they want you for?"

"I. Don't. Know." Qibli cursed, and then groaned. There was a slight scuffling, and a massive thump.

"Ow."

Moon tried to smother her laughter. Qibli had just fallen out of the bed.

She slowly peeked her head out from under the pillow just in time to see the Sandwing limping out of the room, and into the adjoining Gold Winglet room.

"Hey, soldiers." She heard him call. "This is the wrong room."

 _Crap._ The voice of the soldier she had heard before echoed through her head. The rest of the soldiers were just thinking about sun time.

"Your name's Qibli?" the main one asked, still mentally berating himself.

"Guilty as charged." Qibli responded. "Why are you waking everybody up at six in the morning?"

"We need to collect both you and a 'Moon' kid for a summit with all the queens. They'll be converging on neutral ground close to the mud kingdom sometime near dawn tomorrow, and Queen Glory asked me to come and collect you.

At this point, Moon was already mostly awake, so, through a massive exertion of will, she dragged herself out of bed and stumbled into the corridor. "Wait," she interrupted sleepily, trying to blink the grogginess out of her eyes. "What exactly is it that you need from us?"

"For starters, we need the prophecy-" they were interrupted by a loud sound. One of the Rainwing guards was leaned up against a wall, eyes closed, mouth slightly open and drooling. He was making the noise.

"Is that guy snoring?" one of the dragons from the Gold Winglet- Pluto, wasn't it?- yelled out. "Come on, you can't be sleeping on the job!" another voice yelled. "You're the ones who woke us up!"

Instinctively, Moon turned her head to see who had said those words. And at that exact moment, looking inside the Gold Winglet cave, Moon had a sudden wave of thought- but she couldn't remember what it was. It felt as if she'd had a really good idea, but had forgotten it immediately. Trying to retrace her mental steps to that thought, hoping she could recreate it, she peeked inside again. The cave was in complete disarray- dragons were stumbling about everywhere; loudly complaining, belongings were scattered across the floor, there was pandemonium- in other words, everything was completely normal. Still, she felt as if she should've noticed something. Even the minds of the dragons inside the winglet gave nothing away- although there was something off about that room in general.

"Did the teachers authorise this?" Qibli asked, obviously expecting them to say no. Even without her mind- reading powers, Moon could feel the smugness radiating off the guard, so she knew the answer even before he responded "Why, yes!" in a tone so snooty even the mildest of pacifists would've wanted to punch him in the snout.

"Really now?" Moon asked, one eyebrow raised. If there was one thing she knew about Tsunami, it's that she wouldn't have backed down without a fight. _Especially_ not if she was actually in the right.

"Yup." The guy responded, popping the 'p' in the most obnoxious of ways. Perhaps it was just her bias against condescending pricks, but she already hated the bastard. "Pack your things and let's go."

"Can we talk to the teachers first?" Qibli asked, and then looked at her, discreetly slipping the Starfire off. _It's_ so _obviously a trap._ He put it back on.

Moon shook her head. "You mind if we talk first?" she asked the guy, who was trying to slap the other Rainwing awake.

"Yeah, sure, take all day." He responded. "NO! Wait!" he thought about it. "Take five."

Moon pulled Qibli back into the cave, where Turtle, true to character, was still asleep. Kinkajou, on the other hand, was wide awake, and looked like she'd already had fifteen double espressos.

"So, those guys want you to go to visit Queen Glory? I'd love to go, but unfortunately I don't think Tsunami and the others would let me! But do you really want to go? I mean, we just got done with one adventure. Although I guess all of life is one gigantic adventure. Hey, are those guys taking you against your wills? Because if so, _I will hurt them."_

The energetic Rainwing said the last part with such seriousness in her voice that Moon was inclined to believe her. With somebody as hyper as that, anything was possible.

"Nah, I think we'll be fine." Qibli said. "We'll go there, meet Glory again, meet the other Queens, discuss what to do, and when everything is done, we'll come back here and relax!"

Silence.

Then both Moon and Kinkajou burst out laughing.

"Oh come on!" Moon said, almost crying with laughter.

"When has _that_ ever worked?" Kinkajou wheezed, trying to catch her breath.

They had a good, hearty laugh, that eventually died down.

"Oh lord, this is going to be a nightmare."

 **~Been watching a lot of the Office lately. I just finished season 3. it's sad. I'm sad. We're all sad. Also,** _ **flashback**_

 _The sun was slowly dipping behind the plateau, meaning it was close to sundown. Shadows were becoming longer, but they would stay like this for the next twelve hours. This was known as the land of the midnight sun for a good reason- the sun either never truly set, or never truly rose. While it looked amazing, especially with all the colours reflecting off the ice crystals suspended in the air, it meant they couldn't use the cover of darkness to escape._

 _He was back in the large crowd of soldiers, watching the generals stumble to the front to relay their orders. The one who was pushed in front looked rather drunk, which was perhaps to be expected._ Guess betraying your countrymen is good occasion to uncork the champagne. _He thought ruefully, glaring at the other generals, who were avoiding eye contact with anybody in the crowd. The one who was supposed to be giving the speech was struggling to unfold a piece of paper he held in his talons._

" _It isn't folded!" a soldier near the front sighed. "Jackass." Another added._

"' _Ey!" the drunk general flailed, and Bright blinked hard. He had severely underestimated just how drunk the dragon was, and judging by how the general was now talking, it was clear he was hammered. "Piss o-_ *hic*- _off, you snot nosed bitch." He continued._

 _The other generals snickered, whispering lewd comments to each other. The one standing directly behind the drunkard cleared his throat, muffled his laughter and pushed the guy out of the way. He staggered, and then stumbled back into the row of generals._

" _My fellow countrymen," the new general began, "we must fight against this onslaught!"_

 _He drew a breath, but the 'Boo's were already rising from the crowd. The suicide plan had been just about as successful as he had imagined. And suddenly his father rose from the crowd and screamed, "WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!"_

 _About five minutes ago, his father had rallied the troops against the generals, who had been suspiciously late for the meeting._

 _As they tried to regain control of the meeting, Bright slowly smiled. He wasn't going to lie, it was really satisfying to see them struggle to regain control._

 _In just a few minutes more, the remaining generals were trussed up like pigs, and there was much rejoicing. Regardless, the Silverwing armada was coming, and that meant they had to leave as quickly as possible. The plan was to get to the glacier, and head east or west from there._

 _That never happened._

 _Instead, as the sun went behind a nearby mountain- as close to sunset as they were ever going to get- the moon shone a bright crimson._

" _A blood moon." One of the old timers croaked. "Blood will be spilt tonight."_

 _The pressure was building inside his head, and he wouldn't be able to do it. He gas-_

-ped for air, and opened his eyes fully.

The dank, cool cave was completely dark- the only visibility came from a few embers still glowing in the remains of the fire they had built.

He drew in a breath, his throat and mouth dry and raspy.

"Kiwi?"

 **A/N: Yeah, the next one didn't take so long did it?**

 **If this reads like a first draft, that's because it is. I don't have any time, but more importantly, I felt like this subplot was kind of a mistake. I mean, it will reveal something, and work towards a later twist, but I just feel like it was unnecessary.**

 **For context, I just finished season 6 for the Office. Also, in case anybody's wondering, the 'much rejoicing' thing is a reference to MP &THG.**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 **A/N: It's like a month later and I don't remember what I was doing. If somebody could remind me, that'd be great. Also, try some Adam Jensen for this first bit, and then**

 **~A good day to die. Also it's really hot outside~**

The clang of weapons rung out across the arena. Sand was kicked up into the superheated air, and the outlines of two figures engaged in furious battle shimmered in the distance.

As Onyx tried to kick Thorn's legs out from underneath her, the more experienced fighter simply grabbed her leg and pulled, throwing her off balance. However, the move left her underside exposed, which allowed Onyx to use her (very, very blunted) sword to deliver a hit to the stomach.

This, however, worked to her detriment, since Thorn doubled over and pinned her to the ground in one move. With an almost casual movement, she gently tapped Onyx's bad leg with her sword, eliciting a wince from the other dragon.

"You're out."

Onyx struggled to her feet. Though her leg still hurt like hell, she'd learnt to ignore the pain. That did have disadvantages though, ones she'd discovered just recently- it made her leg way more susceptible to specific pain, such as being hit by a broadsword.

"How much longer did I last?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Thorn paused for a moment. "A bit. Around thirty, forty seconds. Not bad."

"Not good either."

"Appreciate the smaller victories, Onyx. Most others can't hold their own against me."

"I'm not 'most others.'"

"You're right about that. A lesser fighter with similar injuries wouldn't dare get out of bed for the next few months."

Onyx thought about that. Then she pushed the thought from her mind.

"Let's head inside. I need water."

It had been about two weeks since she had poured the herbal tea out of her window and decided to give living another shot. Though that might've been a mild way to put it.

In the past weeks, she had been fighting almost daily with Thorn. While her body was battered and bruised, and she finished each day feeling utterly exhausted, it was worth it. She was actually learning about battle from Thorn, and her fighting style was vastly improved.

Slowly limping back into the shade of the castle. She inhaled the relatively cooler air. The sounds of footsteps faded as Thorn selected another tunnel that branched off from this one- probably one that took her back to her quarters faster. There were many pathways similar to this one scattered through the palace, and far as she could tell, only Thorn and Smoulder knew much- if anything about them. Sure, the castle staff used them, but Smoulder had spent most of his life either in his tower or in these tunnels, and he had undoubtedly passed these on to Thorn.

 _Smoulder._

She couldn't deny it. The man had started to grow on her.

Despite her open hostility towards him, he had tried to help- or at least understand- her, which was more than most people had done for her in all her years. Every time she brushed him off, or ignored him, he kept persisting, no matter what she would tell him.

It was never smothering, though. It appeared as though Smoulder was probing her boundaries, trying to see what would be too far, and what was perfectly fine.

It was weird. But also a bit pleasant.

At first, Thorn hadn't caught on. She'd tried to mother Onyx, even going so far as to help her struggle along the passages after one of their battles. To her credit, however, she did learn fast, and by day three, the two females barely acknowledged each other on the long walk back, though Thorn did usually slow her pace down to match Onyx's.

Despite all the hatred Onyx had been harbouring for these people, this place- hell, her entire situation, she couldn't deny that she was getting used to it.

Maybe- just maybe- things would change.

 **~Wassup page break~**

The Sandwing had just settled into another routine with Smoulder and Thorn. Almost every day, he would talk with Onyx- mainly about her day, her attitude towards everybody around her, that sort of thing- and make his assumptions based on that. Then, he would invite in Smoulder and Thorn, and talk to them about the time they spent with Onyx- their attitudes towards the things she did, the way she interacted with them- mundane stuff. And then, he would tailor each conversation based on what one group had said about the other.

"She _is_ improving. I can see that in her, every day!" Smoulder exclaimed loudly, eyes almost shining with joy. Thorn sat next to him, obviously not as joyous, but only because not many people could match Smoulder's joy at that moment. Far as the Sandwing could tell, Smoulder was acting like this because he thought he was making a difference. And granted, that was correct.

He sat up straighter in his chair and cleared his throat. "See, the both of you are doing _amazing_. However, there is something more important at play here- her mind. Have you noticed that everytime she is alone, or- more specifically- has nothing to do, she gets much worse?"

The couple nodded their heads frantically.

"That's because anytime she's alone, she begins to think about what she's done, and the consequences. Not much you can do about it-" he held up a talon, anticipating their question, "except keep her routine regular. Keep her busy. Got that?"

They voiced their agreement.

"Good." The Sandwing put up his thumbs and faked an encouraging smile. "You're doing great!"

 _I need to find myself a brothel. Pronto._

~ **LOL My writing has degraded so much I can barely recognise it~**

It had taken Kiwi quite a long time to figure out where he'd have to go in order to get inside the compound. The entire place was built like a fortress, except more fortified- and it was close to airtight. Sure, he could've tried flying over the walls, but the archers stationed along the top deterred him. In the end, he had to follow the two dragons who had arrived just after him inside, trailing back just far enough that they wouldn't suspect anything.

After that, he had just walked around, inspecting the sights. Obviously, he'd tried to stay out of sight of guards, but the further into the complex he walked, the more impossible he realised that was.

 _It would be way less impossible if you even_ tried _to be quiet._

"Shut up."

There were massive banisters with roaring fires set up at regular intervals, meaning that the surroundings felt more like a chilly autumn day, rather than a freezing arctic tundra. The fortress, on the inside at least, was a bit like a city- tightly packed, rambling, but unlike most cities Kiwi had seen in one important respect- it was artificial. There was no sense of madness, no sense of character- unless you counted the methodical layout of each and every street, and every building, as its character.

 _It's actually kinda creepy. You noticed that no matter where we are, there are at least three lines of sight towards us?_

Kiwi looked around, at the periodic four-way intersections, at the short, squat structures surrounding him.

"Ahead, behind, and above. At minimum."

 _Attaboy._

Still, as the intrepid reader may recall, Kiwi had elected to go on this doomed expedition only because of his excellent eyesight. This meant that any threat would be seen by him long before he was seen by them. Not that that would help, necessarily.

Like right now.

"Say, is that massive Silverwing heading directly towards us?"

 _Fuck. He is._

"Welp. It's been a pleasure knowing you, odd voice inside my head."

The Silverwing grabbed Kiwi by his neck. "Report to headquarters. This ain't the time for sightseeing. There's a war, in case you haven't guessed."

 _Help._

Kiwi ignored the whimpering inside his head and smiled. "I'm sorry sir, I just got a bit lost is all. Could you possibly point me in the direction of the headquarters?"

The Silverwing sighed and set him down. "Head down here, turn right at the third crossing, left at the fourth, and then immediately turn right again. There'll be a massive structure blocking the road with a banner. That's HQ. Can't miss it. Now, run along."

"Thank you, sir!" Kiwi sang as he pranced away, looking like the overeager soldier he was supposed to be.

 _You-you didn't hesitate._

"I'm not utterly incompetent." He scoffed.

 _Fair enough._

He ran down the streets, trying to get to his destination as quickly as humanly possible. He couldn't have any more guards noticing him- otherwise they'd notice his suspicious lack of poison spikes.

 _Won't they notice that even if you get there?_

"I'll blend in more."

Suddenly, just where the old Silverwing had said it would be, he found the massive structure with a banner that said "HERE" in large letters.

 _Guess you're not the only one without a sense of direction._

As Kiwi slowly, and with quite a lot of trepidation, walked into the building, a guard nearby made a mark in a notebook, and then snapped it shut to walk away- having just finished his duty for the night, he was eager to get back to his bed. Then he stopped and looked back down at his notebook- which was a tally of all the dragon recruits inside the building. Something was off about it, but he wasn't sure what…

Deciding that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt, he flicked to the first page of the notebook and began counting off tallies. After some time, he came to the end, and realised- there was exactly one extra dragon in there.

 **~This is dragging now~**

Kiwi stayed near the back of the room- which was easy, since there were so many dragons milling around near the front that the rear was almost entirely empty.

Just a second too late, the Rainwing realised that that might work to his detriment.

"YOU!" a voice roared!

Kiwi's heart dropped as he turned to find a battle-hardened general glaring back at him.

"Any. Reason. You're. Back. There. Cadet?" he spoke through his rage, crushing the stool he had carried into the room- presumably to sit on.

"S-s-sorry, sir." He stuttered, very aware of the literally hundreds of eyes on him- any of which could notice the fact that his spikes were all wrong.

Or that his scales were changing colour because he was nervous.

"Oh carp." Kiwi muttered under his breath as he suddenly became very aware of his predicament. Composing himself, he focused all his attention on keeping his scales the correct colour.

"I simply didn't expect you to arrive this early, sir." He hesitated. "I am truly sorry."

The general looked at the cadet; at the young dragon's sweat-beaded brow, at his obvious discomfort at the situation, and decided to make the best of it.

"Well, to ensure that you don't just DOZE OFF AGAIN." He announced, "I'll give you the pleasure of sitting up HERE while I debrief y'all. Ain't that right?"

Kiwi shook with nervousness as he slowly walked onto stage. He politely turned down the partially crushed stool the general was offering him. "Suit yourself." The old dragon said, before taking his seat, splinters no doubt jabbing uncomfortably into his underbelly. It brought tears to Kiwi's eyes just looking at him.

 **Mini-A/N: *to the doctor* HELP! THE CONTRACTIONS HAVE STARTED!**

"I'm disappointed in y'all, honestly."

The crowd didn't look surprised.

"Y'all've failed me. In fact, y'all've failed this entire army."

Some of the cadets began whispering to each other, no doubt asking what the general was saying. His accent coupled with his odd manner of speaking meant nobody could understand him.

"I've got so many reports of y'all's… let's call 'em 'exploits' on this here mission."

The whispering got louder. Kiwi could make out a few individual voices now- one particularly confused dragon asked "Is y'all's even grammatically correct?"

"IS THIS A JOKE?" the general screamed suddenly. The whispering died down abruptly, and all eyes turned to the stage just in time to see the general take his stool and smash it against the floor. The force of the blow meant that the chair practically disintegrated into billions of shards of wood.

"WE CAME HERE FOR ONE REASON!" The general bellowed. "TO ERADICATE THEM FILTHY SAPPHIREWINGS. AND THERE'S STILL ONE LEFT! IS THAT ERADICATION? IS IT?"

Silence, as the people in the crowd processed this information.

The general sighed.

"Y'all'dve thrown yourself from the top of those cliffs, y'know?"

Nobody knew how to react to that. Either because the thought that suicide was more honourable than failure was abhorrent to most, or because nobody knew what y'all'dve meant.

"YA HEAR ME?" the general screamed again. "I KNOW WHAT'S RUNNING THROUGH YOUR STUPID LITTLE MINDS. Y'ALL'LL'NT'VE'D'S THROW OURSELVES OFF CLIFFS AS OPPOSED TO RUN BACK HOME, TAILS TUCKED BETWEEN OUR LEGS? AND THE ANSWER IS YES! FUCKIN' YES!"

At that the general broke down sobbing. His heartwrenching cries echoed across the room filled with people who were wondering why their general even knew that word. The emotionality of the moment was completely undercut by the current of confusion running through the cadets.

Kiwi was reeling. Killing all the Sapphirewings? Honourable? What? It confirmed his suspicions that they were indeed out to get Bright, but not much else. And now the general was sobbing his eyes out? Though he certainly didn't feel any sympathy for him, he had to do something.

So he made possibly the dumbest descision he'd ever made- he walked over to the general, placed a hand on his shoulder, and rubbed it softly.

"There, there." he asked softly, still confused about why he was doing this. Perhaps watching the general cry really was making him that uncomfortable? He should analyse that later.

The general suddenly turned and grabbed him.

"You- you wouldn't do something like this, would you?" He asked with red-rimmed eyes.

"Ummmm- no, no I wouldn't."

"Good." The older dragon wiped the tears away and turned to the gathering. "Ya hear that? This young man is better than every single solitary one of you!"

Confusion was etched onto every face in the crowd- and that included Kiwi.

And the guard, who had just been tallying up all the people in the crowd to triple check his calculations, chose that exact moment to barge in.

"Sire, there's one extra dragon here! We have an intruder!"

Suddenly, everybody straightened up, turning to one another, looking for their partners in what was clearly a well-practiced exercise. As they found one another, they split off from the main group, and eventually everybody was sorted into pairs- all except Kiwi.

All eyes were on the Rainwing.

"Where's your partner, boy?" the general asked hesitantly.

"Ran off." Kiwi mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

The crowd was already looking at him suspiciously, he realised. It was only a matter of time before-

The general gasped. "No!" he cried out, real pain evident in his voice. He shook the young dragon. "YOU GAVE ME YOUR WORD!"

And at that exact moment, a messenger ran in from the other corner of the room. "We've sighted the Sapphirewing, sire! All hands on deck!"

Suddenly, Kiwi was forgotten. The general was barking orders, and the guard had left. He therefore took his chance and slipped away.

 **~Haha cliffhanger kill me~**

As the sun cleared the surrounding mountains and rose into the sky proper, two dragons accompanied by a party of three more took off from Jade Mountain and began the flight towards the Mud Kingdom.

Even now, less than five minutes into their journey, Moon was getting absolutely infuriated by her companions. Two of them appeared to be simpletons- only thinking about Sun time, eating, or girls- and the other was almost more infuriating, since all he did was whine about how long it was going to take, and wondering how much Queen Glory would appreciate him once he got there.

Qibli flew alongside her with a worried expression. He knew what was going through her mind almost as well as she did- that was true even before they had gotten together.

"Come now, they can't be that bad."

Moon massaged her head in a futile attempt to quell the inevitable headache. "Trade powers with me, and then we'll see what you have to say."

"Seems like a one-sided trade, doesn't it?" Qibli asked, a mischievous grin on his face. "I'd get mind reading powers, the ability to predict the future, even if it is in weird prophecies, the most beautiful face on the planet, the best personality…. What would you get?"

"The ability to make me feel better at _any_ time of the day." Moon retorted, a smile curling the edges of her mouth upwards. She slowly inched closer to Qibli, mindful of both of their wings, and took his talon in hers. "The ability to always be optimistic, to never let anything get to you, to be the best- just, the best."

Qibli smiled bashfully. "You flatter me." He said in a faux-posh manner. "But I'm not as perfect as you think I am."

"Hey, that just gives you character!" Moon responded. "If we weren't perfect we… we wouldn't even be alive! We'd just be hunks of flesh walking around."

"Now, who's doing the cheering up? Hunks of lifeless flesh always brighten my day right up."

Moon laughed- genuinely laughed for the first time that day, even if the humour was a bit macabre- and gripped his talon tighter. There wasn't much more they could do right now, but the implications of the things that they wanted to do hung in the air, thick and sweet and cloying like the scent off some forbidden fruit.

Obviously, they weren't the only ones that noticed.

"Eww, get a room!" one of the two idiots exclaimed. "I don't want cooties." He murmured under his breath.

Moon and Qibli were so shocked by this they didn't even notice the fact that they had just left the mountains behind them, which put them much closer to their final destination. "Excuse me?" Qibli said.

"Cooties. I don't want them." The Rainwing reiterated, shuddering.

"What are you, five?" Qibli asserted while Moon just stared at their escort in genuine amazement and wonder. Oh, to study this specimen of a dragon, so immature in his adulthood that he was scared of _cooties._

"Hey, cooties are a real risk! One of my cousins got them. He died just two days later."

Both Moon and Qibli made no comment, and instead slowed down such that they fell behind. "He genuinely believes that." Moon whispered with eyes that were almost completely glazed over. Apparently, reading this one's mind was taking its toll on her.

"One of his friends played a really mean prank on him, and he never figured out it was a lie, am I right?" Qibli asked Moon, who didn't respond.

"Moon?" he asked, worried. Suddenly, she shook her head violently and turned to face him, eyes not normal.

"I didn't stick around long enough to find out." She said, rubbing her eyes. "I think reading his thoughts genuinely made me dumber."

They looked ahead at the guard, who was glaring at them with suspicion in his eyes.

"You'll get them too. Then you'll be _soooooorrryyyyyy…."_

This was going to be a long flight.

 **A/N: I'm back! For a short period. I'll be updating again soon, hopefully, and the best way to ensure that is just to review! Seriously, just leave anything in the reviews. Anything that can initiate a conversation. It can be one line or ten, its up to you. Just do it.**

 **Also, that really long conjunction means 'you all would not have had us', so there.**

 **Till next time, lads!**


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 **A/N: Another update because once you get back into the writing groove its very hard to get out of it. Also, I really wanted to write about this. In the end, it turned out around 17 pages, which might be the longest thing I've written in five months.**

 **Try Archer by Jim Yosef for the first few scenes with Onyx, then move to some random post rock song, like maybe Lost Kingdom, and then some "Motion Picture Score" by Radiohead for the last scene with Onyx.**

 **In other news, I've decide to leave a space between each page break because that makes it easier to spot. Tune in next week, when I literally just leave a blank page to accommodate each page break.**

 **~"** _ **It never fails to give thanks to the broken bonds you used to build your ladder."**_

 **-The Mountain Goats,** _ **Younger**_

 **Also the fucking power is gone~**

Today was going to be an interesting day for Onyx.

That was because, unlike most days, when she sorted through paperwork, or fought with Thorn, or just acted like a dick to palace staff, today, she was going to spend some time with Smoulder.

She was currently finalizing a deal with a merchant who specialized in odd sculptures made from precious metal. As long as he didn't find out that the lavatory she was pawning off to him had actually been used rather extensively, things should go smoothly.

As she signed the last few documents, she recalled how she had been informed of her… predicament. Thorn had walked into her room before the sun had risen, told her that the Queens were being asked to assemble for a summit, and that Onyx would be expected to spend time with her father.

Naturally, either out of a grudging respect for Thorn's steely resolve, or the fact that she was subconsciously open to a day when she wasn't just negotiating contracts with terrible people, fighting or filing paperwork, she agreed.

She supposed there were worse places to be. Like out in the open during a sandstorm. Or dead. Or in an apartment in summer with no electricity **(Mini A/N: SORRY IM STILL SALTY THIS SUCKS).** Besides, today was different. She felt… not horrible. The aching in her leg had faded considerably, so now it was almost bearable, and she- well, her mind was significantly less tumultuous than it had been in years.

So, when Smoulder walked in, looking happier than she had ever seen him (though granted, she had only known him for a couple of weeks), she was much less inclined towards yelling at him to get out, and instead simply sighed.

"Hello, your highness." She commented as he walked over to her. "How has your day been so far?"

"Now, now, Onyx," he began, "no need to be so regal."

"Why not?" she asked, full well knowing why.

"Because I'm not really a prince anymore." He responded without missing a beat.

"Judging by how quickly things are progressing with Thorn, you may be a few levels above Prince soon."

Smoulder suddenly slammed his hand down on her paper, making her flinch backwards.

"I know what you're trying to do, you know." Smoulder said. "You're trying to instigate conflict. For the record, it won't work. Stop wasting our time- we have a lot to do."

Onyx was a little shocked. _Apparently, he can be really forward when he wants…_ she thought, mentally re-evaluating her opinion of him.

"What do you mean we have a 'lot to do'?"

He couldn't stop a smirk appearing on his face. "Well, _you_ have a lot to do, actually. Today, we'll be heading out for an… activity."

 _Don't take the bait, Onyx._

"Stop teasing me and tell me." she demanded despite herself. The smile curling the edges of Smoulder's mouth widened.

"A scavenger hunt."

For some reason, Onyx's heart began to beat faster.

"A scavenger hunt?" she tried, and failed, to ask Smoulder nonchalantly.

The older dragon grinned. He could see the effect his words were having on her. "Yeah! You're a smart gal, and what better way to flex those brain muscles than a scavenger hunt?"

…

 _Do. Not. Give. Him. The. Satisfaction._

…

"When do we start?"

 **~page_ .~**

Onyx limped out of her room, a scroll in one of her talons, a rucksack slung over her shoulder, and genuine excitement etched on her face. For some reason, the idea of a scavenger hunt excited her much, much more than she was willing to admit.

Maybe it was her natural affinity to solving problems- that was, of course, the main reason she had wanted to challenge Thorn; the main reason she had teamed up with Vulture, and the main reason she was now handling what was left of his estate.

Those thoughts couldn't bring her down now, however- she felt ecstatic. As Smoulder had instructed her, she headed to the common room of the palace and, as she walked through the arch, opened the scroll.

At first, it was hard to understand Smoulder's scrawl, but soon…

 _The building with the most stories is where you must go._

 _Find an old jacket with an otherworldly glow_

 _I'm quite bad at this, you know._

Onyx struggled to keep a straight face at that last line- especially since it still rhymed. Smoulder must've put actual effort into this- no matter how easy it might be. The usage of the word 'stories' pointed clearly towards the library of the palace. Though she had requested tons of material from there, so as to facilitate her research into merchants in the city, she had never actually visited it.

 _Guess that changes now._

The 'jacket with an otherworldly glow' obviously referred to a book jacket of some kind, and considering how large the library was, she would have a doozy of a time finding it. The 'otherworldly glow'… well, she wasn't certain how that would be helpful.

No matter.

As she limped along the corridor, she considered for a second her situation. Even though her leg was still in the same condition, and even though her thoughts still bordered on the edge between 'depressed' and 'manic', she felt happier. She had to ponder the effect her surroundings were having on her- something had changed.

Coming upon the door to the library, she slowed down, and tried to keep her entrance as silent as possible. The room was about the size of a moderately-sized dining hall, and had shelves all the way to the ceiling. The aroma of musty books was quite strong.

In the far corner of the room sat a librarian, engrossed in a book. Onyx quickly walked out of her sight, ducking behind one of the shelves. Quietly setting down her scroll, she began walking along the shelves of books. Running one talon against each spine, she wondered what exactly Smoulder could mean by an 'otherworldly light'.

After just a few minutes of searching, she found what he meant. A book in the corner of one of the shelves had a spine embroidered with tiny, delicate stars. Literally lights from other worlds, she realised almost immediately.

Excitedly, she removed the book from the shelf and gazed wistfully at the cover, which was covered in the same stars adorning the spine. Sticking out of the pages of the book proper, however, was another tiny note.

Onyx looked around to see if anybody could see her, and quietly removed the note, sticking the book in her rucksack to inspect later. Then, she turned her attention to Smoulder's handwriting.

 _Look to the west. More specifically, your left._

 _There you shall see._

 _A namesake in a crest._

 _Overlooking a false sea._

Onyx thought for a few seconds. Then she looked back to where the book had been kept, and turned left to find a solid wall. However, she recognised that Smoulder probably meant that general direction. So, still facing that direction, she tried to imprint it into her mind as the direction she was ultimately supposed to be heading in.

Making sure to keep track of it on her internal compass, she left the library and looked for a gate. As she walked, she realised that the false sea in question was probably referring to the desert. The sand dunes often looked like undulating waves, and the oases were like reverse islands.

 _Clever._

Even though she emerged into the noonday sun, the heat didn't faze her. She was simply far too engrossed in the hunt. Heading approximately in the direction she remembered, but also trying to head towards the walls of the palace, she soon happened upon a small grove with clear sightlines over the city and desert beyond it. Upon closer inspection of her surroundings, she found a copy of the Silverwing emblem- but for some reason, carved from a black rock- suspended from one of the Palm trees with some twine.

 _Onyx._ She realised. _A namesake in a crest. Of course._

Attached to the back with a bit of string was another note.

 _Take the emblem._

 _And remember._

 _A place of pain_

 _Of sand without rain_

 _Where you and Thorn duel_

 _Not much rhymes with pain_

Onyx was unable to hold back a smile as she began in the direction of the arena. Though Smoulder was trying to be subtle, it was obvious he was failing. But she didn't care- it was still fun, after all, and the idea that he had gone to all this trouble just for her… well, it made her feel better.

As she neared the arena, she noticed that the group of guards she had confronted a few weeks prior were standing around, chatting- presumably waiting to begin further training. Among them, she noticed the young Sandwing she had fought with. He seemed more carefree than the last time she had seen him.

 _Wonder why that is._ She thought sarcastically.

On an impulse, she began walking towards him.

At first, the group didn't notice her-they just kept talking. Then one of the Sandwings looked her way and yelped. This drew the attention of the rest, and they turned to see her moving purposefully towards them. Naturally, most of them speed-walked away, but a few remained, trying to hold their ground- or more accurately, nudging the young Sandwing in question in her direction- presumably trying to shield themselves.

She stopped a few yards away from their group. As she did, the dragons in the group pushed him forward to meet her. After glaring at each one of them, the young Sandwing turned to face her, looking a bit nervous.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." She responded.

They remained at this impasse for a while. His 'friends' fled.

Onyx spoke first.

"I wanted to apologise."

The dragon reeled, obviously not expecting this.

"I was in a pretty bad place, back when I challenged you to fight, wasn't thinking straight and… well, I messed up. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry."

The Sandwing looked at her, confused, and then grinned.

"Hey, no harm, no foul."

Onyx smiled back at him as he continued, trying to act cool by brushing the previous confrontation off. "I was fine. It was you that should've been worried."

"Oh really?" she asked him.

"YEAH!" he said zealously. "I would've _destroyed_ you if Thorn hadn't interrupted."

 _Oh, to be young, and naive, and have an ego this inflated._ She thought.

"Hey, you want a friendly match? No real injuries except maybe a few bruises."

"Deal." The dragon said, lowering himself onto his haunches. "By the way, the name's Ember."

Ember charged, roaring. Onyx waited until the last moment, then sidestepped and tripped him. He flipped over onto his back, and Onyx put her face between him and the sun.

"Rule number one of duelling- wait for your opponent to make the first move."

The young dragon looked just over her shoulder with a shocked expression. "Wha…?" he began.

Onyx turned to look behind her. And just as she did, Ember grabbed her by the talons and, albeit with great difficulty and exertion, flipped her onto herback.

"Rule number two of duelling-" he panted, "there are no rules."

Onyx grinned.

The two of them fought for a long time; enough that by the time they were done, the sun was beginning to set. As they parted ways, Onyx found that, even though she was aching and sweaty and tired and her leg was acting up again, she felt better than she had felt in a long time.

And at that exact moment, as Ember turned around to give her one final wave before disappearing into the building, she realised what about her life here had changed.

 _People treat me like I'm normal again._

The thought made her smile.

 _I feel… comfortable._

She smiled even more broadly as she recognised the feeling she could not place- the words she could barely believe.

 _I feel at home._

And that, more than anything, made her feel happy.

As she looked around the arena for the next clue, she found a small ring with another small note buried in the sand of the central mound. The ring went in her rucksack, and all the note said was:

 _Visit the tallest building._

So Onyx did. As she headed to the tallest parapet of the castle, she considered all that Smoulder had done for her. She hadn't noticed it before, but he had been slowly easing her into something like this. She was becoming more and more comfortable not only around the castle, but around him. All that effort, just for her.

Walking up those hundreds of stairs sapped what little stamina she had left, but she managed it. At the top, sunning himself on the roof, waited the man of the hour- Smoulder.

"Took you long enough!" he commented as she pulled herself up the last step.

Onyx said nothing in response, instead electing to pant in exhaustion as she flopped down next to him.

"Hunt took a lot out of you, hunh?"

"Spent *gasp* lot of time *gasp* fighting." She managed.

"I noticed. Help yourself to that water." He gestured to pitcher that stood on the ground near them. As Onyx grabbed it and gulped down most of the water inside, he continued. "I'd have joined you, but these old joints don't allow me to move as well as I used to."

"Sure thing, *gasp* grandpa." She responded, wiping her mouth as she set the pitcher down.

"Hey, I'm not that old!" he responded indignantly, but with a smile on his face. It was clear he knew she wasn't being serious.

"Your-" she inhaled deeply. "-Scavenger hunt was easy."

"It was supposed to be." Smoulder responded. "Speaking of…"

He pulled a scroll from somewhere, and handed it to Onyx.

"I was planning to read that _with_ you, but since it took ya so long, you can read it later." He said. "For now, let's just look at the sunset."

"Sure thing, pops." Onyx responded, sticking the scroll inside her rucksack. Smoulder groaned.

"Not that word! It's so…" he shuddered, " _weird._ "

"Then what would you prefer I call you?" Onyx asked, settling down next to him. "Dad?"

Smoulder was silent.

"You're fine with me calling you dad, right?" She reiterated, observing his expressions. "Or would you prefer something else?"

More silence, and the mood on the roof slowly changed. Onyx's internal pace slowed, and as her heartbeat returned to normal she found herself relaxing, falling into a silence that was… comfortable.

 _Everything about him is comfortable._ A voice commented, unbidden.

Smoulder spoke after a while in a soft, low voice.

"Why not daddy?"

Onyx snorted loudly.

"Ummm, a better question would be WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT ME TO CALL YOU DADDY?"

"I don't know. I like the idea of somebody calling me daddy."

"Smoulder, there are sexual connotations to that!"

"I don't particularly care about those, to be honest."

"Why not?"

"Well… I guess I've romanticised the idea of having a child and, y'know, being a father, for so long I can't really… _sexualise_ it."

"Child?" Onyx sneered, but Smoulder was having none of it. "You know what I mean." He reprimanded her.

The female reeled back, looking a bit sheepish. "Actually, I was going to follow that up with 'you flatter me'."

"Oh, so you were just… making a joke…"

"…yeah…."

The mood went from playful to slightly awkward, and the two simply sat in the awkward silence for a while before Onyx sighed deeply.

"You flatter me because I'm worse than a child." She began, clasping her talons together and avoiding eye contact. "I- I've acted like a real ass these past few weeks, and I want to apologise sincerely. I would've liked to do it in front of Thorn, but… well, this is the best I could do."

"Hey, that's fine. We know how difficult it is- no, wait," Smoulder furiously backpedalled as he realised what he was saying. "I mean, we know that it must be difficult for you. And believe you me, we're trying to cope with that, and help you to cope too."

He changed his tone slightly, moving closer to you. "You've been through a lot, Onyx. This- this is normal."

"I know that, but- but that doesn't excuse me for all the shit I've pulled." Onyx responded, looking down at her talons, which were now tracing small patterns into the dirt on the parapet. Later inspection would reveal they were rough drafts of constellations. "It's just that I've struggled for so long, and no matter how much I try, I always seem to fuck something up, and everything I do just falls apart, and…"

Onyx tried to speak but found herself choking on her words. She breathed deeply and tried again, but her voice would not work. As she tried and tried again, hot tears built up behind her eyes. Try as she might to hold them back, they still came spilling over.

"I- I just-" she struggled to enunciate through the blockage in her throat; struggled to stop the tears, struggled to regain control of the emotions she usually kept hidden- but it didn't work. It was as though once it stopped, nothing would stop it.

Smoulder, obviously, hadn't anticipated this. "Relax." He said calmly, trying to soothe her. "You messed up, sure. Everybody does, right? Even the best of us."

That didn't really do much to help, and Onyx simply help up her talon. In her mind, she gave herself about five more seconds to get her emotions out, and then to stop crying.

Slowly, she dammed the flow of tears, desperately wiping away at her eyes. "I- I know. It's just- just that not many people mess up so badly they ruin their lives-"

At this she tried to hold back a sob, but failed miserably. As the feelings of sadness built up inside her, the waterworks started up again. All those years of neglect, torture and utter despair burst from her like a dam, and she couldn't hold any of them back. Before she knew it, she was crying harder than she ever had in her entire life. Trying the same five-second trick again didn't work, and she couldn't even get words out in between her sobs. Smoulder, to his credit, didn't say anything- instead, he held her hand, and occasionally squeezed it.

She didn't know for how long she wept. All she knew was that eventually, after she had gone through everything she had ever done wrong, and confronted every single emotion that was swirling around inside her tumultuous mind, the sobs wracking her body stopped, and she was finally able to speak.

"I- I'm just a failure."

Smoulder said nothing, electing to stroke her back. After the initial shock had faded, he spoke.

"When I was a teenager, I always sought out beautiful people."

"What?" Onyx whispered, afraid that if she spoke any more, or any louder, she would begin crying again.

"In the castle, I mean." Smoulder said. "Amongst the staff, I was known as…" he leaned in close to Onyx's ear and whispered, "the man slut."

Onyx couldn't help it- she laughed. A genuine, hearty laugh- the first in actual years. Wiping away more tears, she tried to calm herself by simply focusing on Smoulder's story.

"There was this one woman- her name was Palm. She was… the first woman I ever loved. Not lusted after, mind you. Loved. Her eyes were just like the stars in the night sky, y'know?"

Onyx thought back to a winter night in the desert, and her mother telling her about Draco. "I do."

"She was amazing, and I wanted to be with her. But my mother, Oasis, didn't want any potential heirs. So, when she learned that me and Palm had eloped, she… I don't know what she did, but I never saw Palm again…"

Onyx nodded slowly, seeing where this was going.

"…until I saw you. Somehow, I don't know how, Palm survived, and had you, and you look just like her, do you know that? Down to the starry eyes."

There was a silence. Then, struggling to maintain her composure, Onyx whispered,

" _Can't sexualise it my ass. You just told me I look exactly like a woman you fucked_."

At hearing this, Smoulder burst into peals of laughter. And despite herself, Onyx began to smile too. "But seriously," she said after his laughs had died down, "I get it."

Smoulder smiled even more broadly. "I knew you would."

They sat there, watching the sun go down.

"I always wanted kids." Smoulder said. "They'd be like my friends, y'know? There for me, and I could be there for them, and I'd have fun…"

He gasped and shuddered.

"But when I thought Palm had died- especially since I knew she was in a… delicate state, I- I lost it."

Onyx looked to him, seeing the raw pain in his eyes as he said those words.

"I shut down. I didn't move, I didn't eat, I barely left my room- I was bad, Onyx- as bad, if not worse than you."

He looked like he was going to break down crying.

"And then I got better. Over time."

"And then I arrived." Onyx interrupted.

Smoulder sighed. "I- I couldn't believe that I had a daughter! I was ready to do whatever it took to keep you safe but… then I realised that you were angry. And hurt! And it was mostly my fault. And I didn't know what to do. When you challenged Thorn I- I had to make an impossible decision."

"You chose Thorn over the daughter you had barely known for a full day." Onyx said softly. "And honestly, I don't blame you."

"But you need to understand," Smoulder continued, "I hated myself. For weeks after I met you."

"What?" Onyx asked, with genuine puzzlement in her voice. "Why?"

"Because I ruined two lives with one stupid decision, my dear. If I could've just left it at lust, I wouldn't have done this to you."

"And what, not loved my mother at all? That would've been worse!"

"…do you know how much you're like her?" he asked softly.

"…maybe."

"… the point is, I've messed up too. And honestly, the consequences extend far beyond just me- unlike what you did."

"…and?"

"I just-" he hesitated, steeled himself, and began again. "I just wanted to ask you- do you forgive me?"

Onyx stared at him.

A moment passed.

Then a minute.

Then…

"If you had asked me the same question a week ago, I wouldn't have hesitated."

"Yes."

"And I'm not going to hesitate now."

Smoulder sat up straighter, presumably to absorb the metaphorical blow better.

"…I do forgive you."

At this, Smoulder almost broke down. "Thank you." He said in a voice so delicate and fragile Onyx wanted to hug him. But she couldn't. At least, not before she asked him her own question.

"…the real question is, do you forgive me?" Onyx asked.

He smiled and looked at her. "Dear, I never really blamed you in the first place."

In the setting light, the tears in his eyes seemed like miniature suns; the irises blazing bright.

 **~There's this song called "Hot Wings" but I haven't heard it…~**

The sun was climbing steadily into the sky as the dragons' flight continued. Though it was arduous and fraught with frustration, each member of the party appeared to be flying just a little bit faster than they had been for the rest of the journey. And this was simply because their destination was finally in sight.

"God, I can't wait to _leave these idiots behind._ " Moon groaned loudly. Her headache had grown exponentially in magnitude as they'd continued onwards, and the sun's heat wasn't helping. Qibli wasn't doing much better- sure, his being a Sandwing meant he was more accustomed to the heat, but what he _wasn't_ accustomed to was the people he was travelling with being dumbasses.

Each time he and Moon had tried to talk, the one Rainwing that was scared of contracting 'cooties' had turned to stare at them until they stopped. The other Rainwing kept thinking about how funny the phrase 'Time for Sun Time' was, and the only one with a brain in his head (relatively, of course) couldn't stop swooning over the promotion he would no doubt get. He didn't even need Moon to tell him that last one- the guy kept muttering it under his breath, over and over again, often miming taking a bow, and accepting a medal.

It was enough to make even an easy-going guy like Qibli want to murder something.

Still, the Sandwing was painfully aware that Moon had it much, much worse than he did, so he resorted to the one thing he knew how to do to cheer her up- or at least take her mind off the idiots in front of them.

"How did the scavenger cross the road?"

Moon sighed. "By walking. You used this one about two hours back."

That took the wind out of Qibli's sails a bit, and the Nightwing could tell. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. It's just not working. These two… its like their minds are made up of fog. It creeps up over you and engulfs you whole. And the other one, well… let's just say I'm getting more and more tempted to strangle him."

That terrified Qibli more than he expected.

"Oh god, I am so, so sorry." But even as Moon opened her mouth to tell him he had nothing to apologize for, he was panicking. "OK, I, ummmm, I have a better one. Ummmmmm, yeah! Why did the scavenger cross the road, roll around in the dirt, and then come back?"

"Why." Moon deadpanned.

"Because he was a dirty double-crosser!" Qibli exclaimed with a flourish that was quickly interrupted by the Rainwing who was afraid of cooties- he shushed him loudly, and then made sure to stare at them meaningfully until the leader beaned him in the head.

Moon tried to force a smile for Qibli's sake, but it didn't work. Their situation was that bad.

Luckily, it would soon become better.

"Our destination is close, people! ETA one minute!"

The two dragons looked ahead of them. Just below them, there was a massive meadow- at least, to most normal people, it would be a massive meadow. However, to a Queen who needed to organise a summit, it was a dream. Clear sight lines in all directions, flat and predictable terrain, and close to nearby kingdoms, it was perfect. Because of this, it was crawling with people- all of whom were there to organise the summit. They were everywhere- carrying supplies, patrolling the perimeter, passing along messages- the ground almost shook with the thud of talons.

Slowly descending, the party landed near the edge of the clearing, just in front of a large patrol of Rainwing guards.

The leader stepped up to one of the dragons in the patrol and gave him what could only be described as a shit-eating grin. "Sir, we brought them, just as Queen Glory asked!"

The head guard almost dropped his spear, while the others stared open-mouthed. They soon regained their composure, however, and the guard saluted.

"Good, good, cadet, Queen Glory will be sure to hear about this. I- I thank you all."

"I'm sure she will…" the Rainwing grinned again, and it was all that Moon could do not to land him a blow across the snout. Qibli wasn't able to control his instincts, and punched a fist-sized hole in the ground.

"Sun time…" one of the other Rainwings murmured.

The guard quickly led Qibli and Moon into the chaos of the meadow. When he was out of sight of their Rainwing escorts, he looked around for a while to make sure they were not being followed before ducking down to talk to them.

"I'm sorry- we couldn't spare any smarter soldiers and honestly, we expected Tsunami to say no. How did they convince her?"

"I… don't know." Moon said, slowly coming back to her senses. The guard noticed this and sighed. "One more, I apologise. Those two dunderheads-"

"Let's not talk about them." Qibli interjected. "I've had enough of them for a lifetime. We should be focusing on the summit, right?" he looked to Moon for affirmation.

"Right." She grinned. "Now. Where's Queen Glory?"

As they walked further, both Moon and Qibli had a hard time taking in their surroundings. The grass was trampled by the many feet, and the only places that had been spared were areas where small tents had been erected- presumably either for logistics, or to host the participants of the summits. Most of the dragons passing by them were either Rainwings or Mudwings, and while each one of them looked bedraggled and tired, they were still moving, and that in itself was commendable.

The clearing was massive, but its centre was oddly clear of any tents or people. It was ringed by several seats- presumably for the queens- and was surrounded by some decidedly more regal-looking tents. They were led to the most colourful, but also somehow least extravagant one. Inside sat Queen Glory. Deathbringer was nowhere to be seen- which was perhaps for the best.

The Queen looked as though she was slowly dying, but still managed to muster up a smile as the two of them walked in. "Hello, dears-" she began before suddenly realising the implications of Qibli and Moon's presence there. She turned to the soldier in shock.

"Tsunami let them go?"

"Far as I can tell. The idiots we sent apparently managed to convince her."

Glory looked like she couldn't decide between being suspicious or relieved. She decided to settle on something in between. "I'm… going to have to talk to Tsunami when this is all over. I truly did not expect you to be here, you see."

"Neither did we." Qibli said, walking over to the map Glory was poring over. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Trying to figure out if any of the Queens are going to throw a hissy-fit about being here." She sighed as Moon, after a second of hesitation, joined them.

"I know why you picked this place." The Nightwing said. "It's equidistant between the Sea and Ice Kingdoms."

"Yes. Just one of the many things I've had to do to diffuse this situation. Queen Coral… well, she doesn't care about anybody except her own people. And even then, not by much. Chances are, she'll be the biggest advocate against helping. Queen Snowfall is headstrong, and still reeling from the loss of a significant fraction of her kingdom to Darkstalkers' plague- and she'll probably raise concerns about interacting with races that are magical- no matter how benign. Concerns that, might I add, are actually valid."

"Now wait just a moment-" Qibli started just as Moon asked "WHAT?" in an indignant tone quite unlike her. Glory stopped both in their tracks.

"Keep in mind how the last interaction the Icewings had with magic went. Their race was slaughtered. They lost a Queen. Keep in mind that this war could have devastating consequences in Pyrrhia- consequences that might be far felt- and that Queen Coral could consider it better for her own people to stay out of it. None of us really have an incentive to fight."

"Except common sense!" Moon interjected. "If a Sapphirewing has already found their way here, it's only a matter of time before other dragons from Pantala do too! And if they arrive on this continent, who knows what would happen?"

"Besides," Qibli continued, "we have an obligation to help other dragons that are openly being slaughtered! We can't just… abandon them!"

"Calm down, both of you." Queen Glory smiled. "This is why we're having a summit- and why we're here. Queen Thorn has conferred with Jerboa and has been told that Fireclaw is far too weak to travel. This means that both of you will not only have to present the prophecy, but also represent Fireclaw in front of the queens. That means that you will be able to make your opinions clear in front of the queens, but I beg you, _please_ remain civil. I can't have any of the queens becoming offended and storming off- that would set quite a bad precedent."

"We understand." Said Qibli, absentmindedly looking out of the window. "How long until the summit begins?"

"An hour at most. Which reminds me… Deathbringer?"

Deathbringer emerged from the rafters, dropping down next to Moon, who squeaked in fright. Her reaction was much less dignified than Qibli's, though, since he screamed and jumped almost a foot in the air. Glory looked nonchalantly at her bodyguard.

"Are all the Queens here?"

"Yes. Queen Coral just arrived."

"Oh! Where is she?"

Deathbringer pointed out of the window, where a tent that looked as though it had been coated in precious metals and rocks was being erected. Standing outside, looking impatient, was a dragon who looked as though she had been drenched in precious metals and rocks- the Sea Queen, Coral. Attached to her via a harness was a very uncomfortable young dragon- Auklet, a precocious toddler who would no doubt fit in poorly during the proceedings.

Glory sighed. "I guess I'll go and talk to her."

"You do that, my dear." Deathbringer responded.

"Stay out of trouble, Qibli." Glory said by means of farewell, walking towards the entrance of the tent. "Moon, keep him out of trouble."

"Hey!" Qibli yelled.

Despite the awful beginning, it was slowly turning out to be a good day.

~ **I just listened to 'Hot Wings' and apparently its from the Rio soundtrack like what~**

It was the middle of the night. Smoulder and Onyx were fast asleep on top of the parapets, and the elder had one wing over the younger. It was kind of adorable.

Too bad she was going to kill one of them.

She walked towards the father-daughter pair, and inspected them from all angles. Then, she pulled a dagger from her belt.

Unfortunately, the ' _shing'_ it made as it left the sheath was enough to wake Onyx, whose eyes snapped wide open as she recognised the sound.

Almost before either one of them could blink, Onyx threw herself at the assassin, who in turn stuck some pincers deep into Onyx's side.

The dragon howled in pain, but managed to get in a kick to the ribs. The assassin lunged forward, however, and used her talons to stab Onyx in the shoulder.

Another scream, but another successful hit as Onyx punched her in the stomach. Groaning, the assassin retreated.

They danced this deadly dance quickly, each taking the minimum possible time to strategize due to the nature of their duel. A kick, a parry, it all happened so fast, and suddenly-

"Onyx?"

Against all her instincts, remembering the dire effects turning her back on her opponent would have, Onyx didn't look behind her to see Smoulder waking up. The assassin did, however, and grinned.

"SMOULDER, RUN!" Onyx yelled as the assassin threw her dagger towards the dragon. Though Onyx lunged for it, her fingers ended up making contact with the sharp side, thus slicing off almost every talon on her left hand. This did nothing to the momentum of the dagger, so it simply kept spinning, and stuck itself right into Smoulder's chest.

"NO!" Onyx screamed as the assassin laughed. That was a mistake, however, since Onyx now looked back at her with a burning fury in her eyes.

"YOU BITCH!" she yelled as she used the claws on her right hand to slice up the female's snout. The assassin howled in anguish, distracted by the pain, which led to Onyx being given the opportunity to stab her right in the gut with her claws.

Suddenly, the assassin bared her claws and slashed them across Onyx's face.

There was silence, as Onyx didn't breathe. Without even feeling around, she knew she had lost her left eye.

And then the pain hit her like Starfire from the heavens, and she _screamed,_ and her knees trembled and her talons wavered-

But she didn't let go. And through gritted teeth, she asked, "What's your name, bitch?"

The assassin grinned through the immense pain she was no doubt enduring, and asked "What for?"

"Your gravestone."

The assassin suddenly kicked Onyx's legs out from under her. As the Sandwing fell to the ground, she saw the assassin limping away. Just before she left, though, the assassin turned around to look at Onyx one last time.

"Midnight." She said menacingly. "Call me Midnight."

And then she was gone.

Her body was in immense amounts of pain, but Onyx didn't care. Slowly, she tried to dam the flow of blood from her most major wounds, and walked over to Smoulder. Even before she reached his body, she recognised the hilt of the dagger sticking out of his chest. One look told her the wound was most probably fatal.

"No." she wept as she desperately felt for a pulse with talons shaking and drenched in blood. She found none.

All those feelings of desperation, depression and sadness came crashing over her.

She couldn't call for help- she couldn't move that fast, and any help would take too long to arrive.

So, she did the only thing she could.

"I'm sorry." She whispered before hugging him, and softly weeping.

The night air grew colder around them.

The blood dripped from their bodies onto the ground, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She deserved the pain.

Soon, Onyx felt like she had exhausted her supply of tears. She slowly raised her head from his chest, took a long look at his face- albeit it was hard to see through her one blurry eye- and whispered;

"I'll make it better… Dad."

She slowly walked over to the ledge, and contemplated ending it. The only person who understood her was dead, and she was the reason he had died. Without her, he would've kept happily living his life, near guards so that a fucking assassin wouldn't be able to kill him-

She shuddered, and gasped for air. Tears mingled with blood in her one good eye as she realised that she had practically nothing to live for.

So, she jumped.

And at the last minute, just as she was mentally apologizing to every single person whose life she had made miserable, instead of impacting the ground, she pulled up, and flew for the mountains on the other side of the desert.

 _Once a coward. Always a coward._ A voice in her head echoed.

She couldn't disagree.

As she flew, it seemed as though she began crying once more. The wetness in her eye was either tears, or blood, or both.

Either way, she didn't wipe it away.

 **~YEAH POWER IS BACK WOOOO but yeah that just happened~**

The Summit proceedings had been going on for about ten minutes now, and Moon was getting mighty bored. She couldn't afford to just dose off, however, so she kept pinching herself. So far, all that had happened was that all the Queens had been introduced using their formal titles.

Finally, Thorn got up to speak.

"To start the summit off, we have Moonwatcher, a Nightwing with the ability to have visions of the future, with a prophecy for us."

All eyes were immediately on her, and her mouth suddenly went dry. It was incredible how quickly she went from bored to nervous.

She made eye contact with Qibli, who simply smiled lightly. That fixed her right up, and so she walked up to the podium, cleared her throat and began;

 _Over this land, a star will burn_

 _And bring destruction and death_

 _and when these four dragons foretold_

 _appear, they shall be put to the test_

 _A dragon will kill, by the will of another_

 _A father, a son, a sister, a mother…_

As she spoke, a chill settled over the gathering.

And almost at that exact same time, Smoulder was bleeding out in the Sand Kingdom.

 _..._

 _You're fine with me calling you dad, right?_

 **A/N : I stayed up till 4:30 in the morning to write this, and most of that time was spent without electricity. This damn city sucks.**

 **But Smoulder is now dead tho.**

 **Isn't this fun?**

 **ISN'T IT?**

 **However, it does mean that Onyx is… she's gonna get worse. So tune in next time for…**

 ***to the tune of Final Countdown* a mental breakdown *harmonica solo* *smashes electric guitar into drum set* *sets fire to stage***

 **Have fun I slepp**


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 **A/N: The following sentence was written by me at two in the morning after a five-hour session of solving chemistry and math past papers:**

 _ **i feel like my blood is slowly becoming diet coke, and my mind is slowly becoming one with the universe**_

… _ **.**_

 **Also, fanfiction DOT net doesn't like unnecessary gaps (or URLs), so it removes them all. That came as a shock to me, since unnecessary gaps were supposed to be my new page breaks. Guess we're back to the old formula.**

 **Also, HI BLACKBERRY AVAR! I just remembered that you reviewed as I was uploading this chapter, and thought this would be faster. Thanks for the feedback! I kinda wanted to make the fight scene not flow properly because Onyx just woke up, but I didn't do it too well. Keep giving me feedback like that, it helps. Like, seriously, not in a snarky way. I'm always paranoid people will take my responses to criticism as snark. It does help me improve.**

 **~watup lads~**

The clouds were utterly massive.

Behemoths, perhaps even larger than the mountains in the distance. Usually, he could ignore their immense volume- but over the plains, especially over this basin meadow, he found himself reveling in their almost infinite size. Or, at least, it felt infinite to him.

There was no doubt in his mind that if he tried to fly into one of those monoliths, he would be consumed. It would take him days, weeks, months, years, to find a way out. From amongst the soft grass, they looked impossibly detailed- tiny hills, nooks and crannies, small caves, towering cliffs…

Sometimes, it looked as though there were cities among the peaks.

They invoked a certain sense of foreboding in him- as they should.

There is no such thing as a gentle giant.

The sun sometimes peeked out from behind the clouds, casting light in patches across the meadow. One of those patches, at that exact moment, fell upon Moon, who was currently relating her interpretation of the prophecy to the esteemed gathering.

And in the light, she shone; her eyes sparked as they darted nervously from face to face until they came resting upon his, her fangs glinted as she clearly enunciated syllables she had practiced many times over, those teardrop-shaped silver scales of hers dissolved into a blinding brightness…

Everything about her, then, seemed to make sense. Not perfect, not in any way, but that was exactly how it should've been. Her many imperfections simply added up, until they made the perfect figure standing before him.

Her words echoed inside his mind; everything she said, everything she meant, it all sounded like the words of an immortal- of somebody who had lived for longer than anybody remembered, or than anybody cared to remember, and had amassed so much knowledge that she now knew almost everything; but treated it as if it were nothing.

And perhaps to her, it wasn't. To him, it was the most wonderous thing in the world.

In that moment, Qibli considered the beings that had made the clouds.

The beings… there were no words to describe them- at least, no words that could truly capture their- their magnitude. There was no way he could define a being that could be so vast only through the tiny remnants they bared for mortals. If the clouds were this colossal, how could he even begin to fathom the beings that made them?

There was a feeling. A feeling of being miniscule, a speck of dust next to a planet of awesome size. It was a feeling he could hardly grasp. Yet it was what he felt as he stared at Moon, in all her perfect imperfectness, illuminated by a Sun that seemed to have eyes only for her.

She… she seemed celestial. He realized this on a hot summer's day, lying on the grass, sweat tricking down his forehead as he stared at the clouds and wondered what they meant.

In that moment, Qibli realized that she was a force of nature. No, something much, much greater than that. She was something to be revered, something to be feared, something so vast and unattainable that being this close to her was a sin. He felt as though he had indeed found the being that had made the clouds, and the sun, and the meadow, and everything… and that included him.

It scared him.

 _She_ scared him.

But not in a bad way.

She scared him in the best way possible.

"…indeed." He heard Glory commenting as he slowly emerged from his reverie. "Any questions?" she asked of the assembled queens.

A few talons shot up.

"Yes, Queen Coral?" she turned to the sea queen, who looked rather irate.

"This isn't really a question about the prophecy, but more… why should we care? I mean, I don't-"

"That question will be answered in due time." interrupted Glory, who selected another person with their talon in the air. "Queen Ruby." She pointed to the Sky Queen.

"Yes. What do you think 'Lightwings' are? Are they a species of dragon?"

"Yes. Though are sources tell us they are now extinct, the phrase 'last of the Lightwings' implies there are still some left. Queen Snowfall."

She pointed to the final talon, which belonged to possibly the youngest dragon there- Snowfall, who looked very uncomfortable in the heat. Unlike her mother, who would've probably had soldiers carry ice out there for her, she only had one guard accompanying her- and no tent. In the end, she'd had to sit in the sun.

"Well, I am interested in the answer to Coral's question, but more importantly, the so-called 'dragon of rain' that's important to this prophecy wouldn't happen to be a Rainwing, would he?"

"It's unlikely, but-" Queen Glory began, but was interrupted.

"There was a disappearance, was there not? Of a Rainwing." Snowfall said, looking at Glory expectantly.

"Yes, but-"

"A disappearance over the sea, meaning he could've conceivably ended up on the lost continent." Snowfall continued. "And it would be irrational to simply dismiss that as a coincidence, what with this prophecy and all."

Glory looked to argue, but then stopped, considered, and thought better of it. "Indeed. I hadn't thought about that."

Snowfall almost smiled at besting an adult, but it ended up devolving into a sad grimace.

"…any more questions for Moon specifically?"

No takers. Glory gestured for Moon to take her seat again, so she walked across the grass towards Qibli, grinning because she hadn't messed anything up. He mouthed "YOU DID GREAT!" and gave her two massive thumbs up.

"Well, that's over." Moon said as she flopped down next to him. Qibli scooted slightly closer to her, intending to put one wing over her. However, at that second, Glory spoke.

"And now, to answer Coral's question, we have Qibli, standing in for Fireclaw."

A bit disappointed at the bad timing, Qibli got up and walked over to the podium. Eyes expectantly locked onto him, and he began to feel a bit bothered.

"Umm, hello, I'm Qibli standing in for Fireclaw."

He paused for a second to compose his thoughts. "Fireclaw is a Sapphirewing from the lost continent, who was taken prisoner of war by the Silverwings. She was tortured, eventually had her tongue ripped out, and finally escaped and made it to the shores of the Sand Kingdom. When I met her, she informed me that the Silverwings were utterly ruthless, and ended up almost wiping out two species of dragons. Based on her testimony, we can conclude that if the Silverwings ended up here, they would do the same to us. Therefore, would it not be better to preemptively strike them down, and in the process save the Sapphirewings?"

Even before he had finished speaking, Snowfall had a talon raised.

"Do we know why they're waging this war?" She asked.

"Well, not exactly-"

"Do we know how fast this genocide occurred?"

"Again, not exactly-"

"What about any powers they might have?"

"That I do know. None."

That caught the Queen off guard. "Wait, none? Then… how did they wipe out two other species of more powerful dragons?"

"We think its simply a matter of pure numbers."

"But that makes them even less of a threat towards us!" Snowfall exclaimed. "I mean, we have more dragons here, right?" she looked around at the other Queens, most of whom were slowly nodding their heads. "Even if we don't, the dragons we _do_ have have a wide range of powers, so what difference does it make?"

"Well, we don't know how many dragons _they_ have. There could be way more Silverwings than the rest of us put together!"

"But we still have more advanced powers, and advantage of familiar territory, right? We shouldn't go to war just because we're scared of some powerless pansies."

"…well…"

"Well what?"

"…it's possible this overconfidence is what the Silverwings use to their advantage."

Snowfall suddenly slammed the arms of her seat. "Damnit, this isn't overconfidence!" she bellowed.

Every eye in the meadow turned to meet hers- even those belonging to Auklet, who was still attached to her mother, and who until now had been close to dozing off. She didn't back down from any of them.

"…we just got finished with a massive war, and then dealt with a centuries old monster that nearly annihilated us. I am simply. Not. Ready. To. Start. Another. Fight." The Icewing forced through gritted teeth. "I mean, what even are our options here? Either we ship most of our soldiers overseas, leaving us defenseless, and hope these Silverwings don't _fuck shit up,_ or we _don't_ do that. Personally, I'm leaning towards the second option."

There was a distinct silence in the clearing. Nobody was willing to counteract the Ice Queen, especially since she had already proven to be a worthy opponent around the debate table. Also, she had a good point.

"…what if they initiate contact first?" Qibli asked.

Snowfall thought about it for a moment.

"I assume you've never studied war tactics?" she said, and then grimaced. "I apologize, that sounded rather snooty. Regardless, I'm assuming you haven't."

Qibli nodded, unsure where she was going but certain he wasn't going to like it.

"Well, my mother made me study them extensively. And I've learned a few things- again, if I sound snooty, I apologize. Basically, it's easier to defend a position you already know inside out, where you have distinct tactical advantages, than attack somebody somewhere you don't know. We do not know the topology of this new continent, and even if we did, and even if we somehow defeat them, there's the matter of festering, leading to the martyr effect."

After inspecting the many puzzled expressions, she sighed and turned to Glory.

"You remember what happened after the Nightwings were forced to abandon their home, and come live under you, Queen Glory?"

Glory grimaced. "Yes."

Snowfall turned back to Qibli. "Now, some of those citizens were good people, no doubt. In fact, most of them were, I'm certain. But being forced to accept harsh compromises, such as taking Glory as their queen, and abandoning their former homes, meant that their frustrations festered, and festered, and eventually, when they were given a way out by Darkstalker, most of the Nightwing populace took it without a second thought. Got that?"

The dragons in the immediate vicinity nodded. Snowfall continued. "Something very similar could happen to the Silverwings also. If we find a way to win against them, then the compromises they must accept can lead to festering emotions, which means if a martyr like Darkstalker, who offers them a way out of it, appears, the masses will be more inclined to follow them.

"Regardless, even if they initiate contact, what will they do? They face the same disadvantages and repercussions if they choose to attack us as we do if we choose to attack them.

"So, to answer your question, if they initiate contact, we hold every conceivable advantage- not least because _their_ only advantage seems to be their numbers and transporting said numbers across the ocean to us would be a mammoth task with very little conceivable payoff."

Nobody quite knew how to respond to the diatribe. After a short pause, the other Queens clapped politely. Qibli seemed a bit shaken up, but simply nodded. After a few more trivial questions from the other Queens ("are they shiny?" Auklet had asked through Coral, and Qibli had been forced to answer that he didn't know), Glory spoke.

"Alright, if there aren't any more questions, we will allow the Queens half an hour to make their decision. Please disperse."

The Queens got up and walked back to their individual tents- all except Snowfall, who headed towards the shadow of the nearest cloud for a reprieve from the heat. Her bodyguard followed her.

Qibli walked over to Moon, who was looking at him with a small grin on her face. "So, went well?"

"You could say that." He said, falling to the ground next to her.

"Snowfall seemed really supportive of the idea."

"Yeah, but she missed out on the most important question."

"And what's that?"

"Are they shiny?"

The two looked at each other before softly dissolving into giggles, all the stress of the day falling apart at the seams into a soft pile on the ground.

As Qibli laughed, one fist over his mouth to prevent drawing attention towards either of them, Moon admired him. He looked happy, carefree, and utterly blissful.

It made her feel better.

"But honestly, Snowfall seemed… different somehow."

"Yeah." Qibli responded, sobering up in a moment. "She seemed really against the idea in general- which is weird, because I thought Icewings were supposed to be war hungry."

"Like Winter?"

Qibli paused, looking like a deer in the headlights. "…kinda?"

Moon sighed. "…we can't just ignore the fact that the way Winter acted is probably influencing our views on Snowfall. I mean, after what he did, we might just have ended up biased against Icewings. Besides, and I hate to play devil's advocate, but her points were really concise."

"But didn't you hear how she talked?" Qibli asked, realizing that the conversation was getting heated again, but finding himself not caring. "It's like she didn't care about Fireclaw and all the other Sapphirewings stuck in that place! She was only worried about… war tactics, and all that."

"I'm sure she just didn't want to seem weak in front of all the other queens. She's young, and still has to gain their respect."

"…yeah, I guess."

They sat in silence.

"…if you wanted, we could go and ask her more." Moon mentioned.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'm sure she would at least entertain our concerns."

Qibli acted as though he was deliberating, but Moon could tell he was smitten.

"Let's do it."

 **~At the exact same side on the opposite side of the world it's night here, and it's day in Pyrrhia, and aren't I a good planner please compliment me I need constant validation~**

It was not a good day.

Perhaps because it was night. Regardless of semantics though, things were going terribly.

After almost being ousted by an emotionally unstable commander, Kiwi had just found out that Bright was out there somewhere- outside the cave, somewhere amongst the mountains- and the Silverwings were looking for him. Or, if he was especially unlucky, had already found him.

Ah well.

At least the blizzard had cleared up.

Though to be honest, that was cold comfort.

 _You don't have much time._

"Ya think?" Kiwi muttered as he ran through the streets- which were now bustling with life- and tried to keep his head down. The fear rushing through him wasn't made much better by the fact that he still needed to keep his scales white.

The quickest way out of the compound would be to fly, but since nobody else was taking off until they were outside the walls, he couldn't- the attention would probably lead to his capture. So, with that option out of the window, he'd have to get to the nearest wall and get out- right back into the tundra where they had started.

 _I mean, at least Bright is awake. That's improved._

"Yeah, but unless we can get to him, both of us are dead!"

At this, Kiwi rounded a corner and found the wall looming over him. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was made up of a type of dry wood- similar to that in the trees around the tundra. That wasn't important. What was important was the singular dragon-sized gap in the wall just a few yards away. Through it, hints of the tundra's snowy floor.

 _Bingo._

Kiwi didn't even wait before he was through the door to take off - his wings were flared, and his paws had left the ground before he'd cleared the wall. Finally, he climbed higher into the air, and inspected the hordes of soldiers assembling below him.

They appeared to be heading in one very specific direction- north, right towards where Kiwi had left Bright.

With that revelation hitting him hard, Kiwi dived, determined to outrun them.

Far, far below, a female Silverwing looked up at the mountains where the sighting had occured.

Her eyes were cold as the tundra they stood in, but sharper than a dagger. Her angled face and harsh expression made her look truly dangerous.

"I've changed my mind." She announced to the dragon standing next to her.

"To what, ma'am?"

"Dead. I definitely want him dead."

~ **Ever listened to Slow Dancing in the Dark so much that now your depression has depression~**

The instant Bright had woken up, he'd known something was wrong.

Maybe it was the humidity. The cave was damp, and almost positively reeked of sweat. His mind could've interpreted that as a lack of ventilation.

Maybe it was the noise. The sounds the water condensing on the walls and then dripping into puddles on the floor made echoed, implying a physical barrier that stopped the sound from leaving the confines of the cave, and instead bounced it back towards him.

But it was most probably the lack of warmth. Not heat- that was still provided by his magic flame. Warmth. There was no comfort to his position- a comfort he had grown accustomed to over the last few days.

Kiwi was gone.

"Kiwi?" he asked, dazed.

No answer.

Slowly, he got up. It felt as though his limbs had atrophied, what with his lack of mobility, but he managed to use the wall of the cave as a support. His wound ached, and though it hurt like hell, soft probing of the stitches proved that everything was still intact. In fact, he could swear that the edges were finally starting to bind together.

That didn't diminish the problem at hand, though. As his eyes adjusted better to the darkness, he took in the wall of rocks and realized that he had been barricaded inside.

In hindsight, it should've been obvious that Kiwi had done this- probably in order to keep him safe from the Silverwing presence. But in that split second before he did realize it, in no small part due to the emotional weight of what he had just experienced in his mind, he panicked.

"FUCK, NO!"

Rushing to the barricade, he began pulling away at it with his talons. Though Kiwi had put a lot of effort into building it, it only took a few seconds of Bright's attack for it to suddenly give way. The rocks rumbled as they fell to the ground, and most of them spilled out of the entrance of the cave.

Moonlight and cold air rushed in. And as the last of the stones rumbled away, Bright realized what he'd just done.

"Awww, crap."

And to top it off, at that exact moment, two Silverwing soldiers poked their heads into the cave. They were both female, and about the same age as him. The same ones who had skipped over inspecting the cave earlier that day, in fact. And unlike last time, when Kiwi had been invisible to them, they saw Bright clear as day.

The Sapphirewing stared at them. They stared back.

The night seemed to grow colder.

"Ummm… hi?" he asked tentatively.

"Does this mean we have to report him back to the general?" one of the Silverwings asked to the other.

"Unfortunately, yes." The other responded. "She did want him very dead."

The two looked back at him again. "Want some advice?" one of them asked him.

"…Sure?" Bright wasn't certain what to make of this situation.

"If I was you, I'd run as far as I possibly could from here." She responded. "Lemme emphasize. _AS. FAR. AS. POSSIBLE."_ The two dragons then flew off into the night, presumably to go report to their "general."

The sounds of wings beating steadily faded into the distance, and he was left to contemplate his surroundings.

 _What was- wait…_

 _The general._ He thought suddenly.

And then the stupidity of his decision really kicked in.

 _Oh god, what have I done?_

He considered bolting, but then realized that he couldn't run- at least, not yet. Leaving Kiwi out here would essentially be leaving him to die. Besides, continuing without him would probably lead to Bright's own death- he didn't know how to tend to his wound, after all.

 _Also, you might have feelings towards him._ He thought in the safety of his own mind. Uttering it out loud would make it real- and he wasn't sure if he wanted that yet.

Poking his head outside the cave, he took in the vast tundra- the snow, the mountains, the army of Silverwings making their way up the mountain-

 _FUCK!_

The Silverwings were slowly combing their way along the slope, undoubtedly trying to flush him out. Meanwhile, some patrols were taking to the skies in order to detect his presence from a higher vantage point. Some of those patrols split off and landed at the ridge at the top of the slope, essentially cutting off his escape in that direction.

The only direction he could head in was sideways, along the mountains. From that angle, he would be almost entirely exposed. It wouldn't be very hard to find him.

But he wasn't going to make it easier than it needed to be.

As he left the safety of the cave, he ensured he was walking only on dark patches of rock, and that he was pressed as close as he could be to the ground. Hopefully, in this light he'd look like any old rock, thus making him harder to spot. Hopefully.

And so began his intricate game of cat and mouse. Every so often, Bright would have to duck down into some ravine or crevice to avoid detection, and every so often soldiers would be hit by rockslides- one of which took an entire party out of commission, since they had to retreat and get bandaged up. Though Bright felt a little guilty about that one, he justified it because they were trying to kill him.

That changed the rules slightly.

Or at least, that was what he told himself.

 **~Eyes not Teas not Jays not Peas~**

Snowfall was just sitting in the middle of a field.

Apparently, since she hadn't brought her own tent, the closest she could get to shelter from the sun was just sitting in a field, under one of the massive clouds moving slowly across the sky.

She wasn't alone, though. Sitting next to her was her bodyguard- whose name neither of them really knew. As they approached the ice queen, he hailed them, and flew over to meet them halfway.

When they explained themselves, the Icewing scratched his neck sheepishly.

"I mean, _sure_ , you _can_ talk to her, but you won't be able to change her decision."

"That's fine." Moon said. "We just want to… understand it better, that's all."

He nodded and led them towards where the Queen of the Icewings sat.

She was staring up at the clouds, reclining in a part of the meadow covered in lavender and reeds that came up to their knees. "Why, hello." She began as they approached her. "Take a seat, please. We'd offer you refreshments, but unfortunately we don't have any ourselves."

"That's fine!" Qibli said, trying hard to appear cheery as he and Moon sat down, the longer grass tickling their undersides, and the smell of flowers permeating the air. "We just wanted to-"

"To try to convince me to change my decision, I know." Snowfall interrupted. "I'm sorry, but very little you say will change my mind."

"We didn't really want to argue." Moon interrupted, looking pointedly at Qibli, who had dropped the cheery act and already looked like he was ready to fight. "We just wanted to… hear your side of the story."

Snowfall looked her squarely in the face. Moon stared back, undaunted. Apparently, whatever the Icewing saw satisfied her, and she leaned back. Her bodyguard took his place at her side.

"Why should we involve ourselves in a conflict we know basically nothing about and possibly lose a lot of lives, just to save a species that is basically doomed?"

Moon and Qibli both stared, with dropped jaws. Her bodyguard leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Bit too harsh."

"Oh, my dears I apologize. I meant…" she pressed her talons to her head. "OK, think about this differently. Think about this as a colony of… of scavengers."

Snowfall waited for them to nod their affirmation.

"Good. So, imagine that you have a colony of scavengers that killed another colony, and are close to killing another. Got me so far?"

"Yes, but I don't see how-" Moon attempted, but Snowfall interjected.

"Now, you could try sending in your own scavenger colony to sort them out, but your scavenger colony just got done fighting a war with itself- and though nobody likes to talk about it, there are still a few hard feelings among a few of them. Going to war will not only lead to a lot of lost lives but would also be the perfect excuse for some of the scavengers to… tie up some loose ends, let's say."

"Wait, so you're suggesting that if we go to war, the dragons from Pyrrhia will try to kill each other?" Moon asked, shocked.

"If I asked you, specifically you, Moon, to go to the Lost Continent with an Icewing, you think there won't be friction?" Snowfall asked. "You know there would. And you're a person who wasn't that badly affected by the war! Come now, you must understand where I'm coming with this."

In the safety of their minds, both Qibli and Moon agreed. Outwardly though…

"But these are people, Snowfall!" the Sandwing maintained. "You can't just ignore their plight!"

Snowfall sighed and looked at Qibli. The dark circles under her eyes gave him pause, and the words she uttered next even more so.

"There is such a thing as collateral damage, you know." She said in a voice that was much older and sadder than the body containing it. "Us just interfering in a conflict we know nothing about will have consequences we can't even comprehend yet.

"Besides, none of us are ready for war. I wanted to keep this under wraps around the other Queens, but the Ice Kingdom is still reeling. We lost many good people to the fighting, and even more to Darkstalker's plague. People are scared, and I can't just have them marching off to face an enemy that hasn't done anything to them."

Moon and Qibli had no response to that. Snowfall looked at each in turn.

"I trust we're done here?"

A pause.

"Yes." Moon said.

Snowfall sighed again, and then yawned the yawn of a person who hadn't slept well in weeks.

"I'm truly sorry- you must understand that by now. Unfortunately, I have more of a duty to my people than to some dragons in a far-off land. I hope you find some traction amongst the other Queens, but the Ice Kingdom will not be participating in this conflict."

"We understand." Moon reassured, turning to Qibli and giving him a look that implied he _better_ understand.

The two dragons got up and walked away. Snowfall sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"…Snowfall-" her bodyguard began.

"Go. I know you weren't done."

As Moon and Qibli wandered back to the clearing, they noticed Snowfall's bodyguard following them nonchalantly. About halfway between the clearing and where Snowfall sat, he stopped them.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about this… situation." He began.

"Why?" Qibli asked, rather bitterly. "So you can justify your Queen letting potentially thousands of Sapphirewings die?"

"Qibli!" Moon admonished him, but didn't argue. The bodyguard sighed.

"Look, I could tell that your minds were already made up. I just want to tell you that… what Snowfall is doing is better for _all_ of us."

"That doesn't change the fact that she's essentially allowing a genocide to occur!" Qibli snapped.

The Icewing looked like he was ready to tear his scales out in frustration, but composed himself. "I'm sorry, but you don't seem to understand her reasons one bit."

"What, keeping her own tribe safe by letting another die off?"

"The Icewings _will_ die off if we participate in this war!" he yelled, and then, recognizing his fallacy almost immediately, lowered his voice.

"The Ice Kingdom is reeling from the loss of over half its population." He admitted softly. "Most of our fighters are gone. It's gotten so bad that the ring system has been completely dissolved. Can you begin to imagine how bad things must be for those fucking bureaucrats to abandon that damn system, no matter its _remarkable_ ability to keep the masses suppressed?"

He looked at them with fire in his dark eyes.

"Snowfall lost a mother, and was almost fucking _killed_ herself in the ensuing riots. I lost a brother to the plague, and almost lost my sister in the aftermath. Do you comprehend the severity of the situation here?"

Qibli was stunned into silence.

"…Snowfall saved my sister's life." He said quietly. "So, when the time came, I saved hers."

He stepped closer to Qibli. "I trust my Queens judgement. I encourage you to do the same."

And then he turned and walked away. As he was just about to take to the air, Qibli blurted out one last question.

"What's your name?"

The Icewing looked over his shoulder, slightly shocked.

"Neptune."

And with that, he was gone.

 **~The power has been gone for two hours somebody send help~**

Kiwi considered what he would do once he found Bright.

Obviously, first order of business was to try and escape. However, it was entirely possible that they would fail, due to the literally hundreds of Silverwings trying to kill them. So, that was that out of the window. And… he really had nothing else.

 _Kill the Silverwings?_

"All nine hundred of them?" Kiwi asked incredulously, desperately searching for Bright among the slopes, and failing miserably- so far, at least.

 _...maybe?_

"No. We find Bright and leave. Immediately"

 _But what if we can't?_

"I'm not sure." Kiwi said, spotting a flash of blue against white. He immediately dived, but to his dismay realized that at least three other Silverwings had also spotted the color. "I guess we improvise."

 **~You know what it's like when you're sitting outside to write cuz there's no electricity inside your house and its cooler outside but there are so many mosquitoes you have to drench yourself in mosquito repellent and eventually you end up with so much your laptop starts sliding off your lap? Yea that feeling~**

Bright knew he had fucked up the second he slipped.

Just a bit of his body had skidded out over the snow, and he'd pulled it back almost immediately, but a cursory glance at the sky revealed four Silverwing scouts that were coming to investigate.

 _Fuck me._

He found a small ravine, pressed himself into it, and hoped for the best.

In that moment, his father's words came back to him; _Hope for the best, prepare for the worst._

He heard the thud of feet landing and tried to control his breathing. Of course, it didn't work, and he probably ended up drawing more attention towards himself.

"Hey, what's this?" one of the guards asked. "Looks weird…" another said.

They must've found his footprints.

 _Damnit, I'm not going to die like this…_

As Bright began brainstorming a way out of this situation, the footsteps kept getting closer, until-

"THERE HE IS!"

"GET HIM"

Bright rushed to do something- _maybe lash out and try to take all of them down, or push them back and run for it?-,_ but suddenly stopped; the footsteps were racing away from him.

 _What?_

Carefully, he poked his head over the edge of the ravine and saw a dragon with scales exactly like his disappear over a nearby ridge. It took him only a few seconds to piece it together.

 _Kiwi, damnit!_

Taking full advantage of the situation, Bright got out of the ravine and ran in the opposite direction. It only took him about a minute to exert himself, what with the massive wound and all, but in that minute, he covered enough ground that he was far, far away from where the army had almost found him. He then continued walking, and then ducked into a small cave to wait for Kiwi, and catch his breath. He didn't have to wait long, since just a bit later the dragon in question appeared on the walkway, scales tinted light silver, panting. Bright slowly emerged from the cave and began walking between Kiwi and the slope. Kiwi simply smiled at him.

"Hi." He said simply, and Bright, for some reason, beamed.

"Hi to you too." He responded.

"So, you're awake."

"Yeah. I... I think I need to talk to you about something."

"Let's wait until we're far, far away from here, and then we can talk as long as we want. Deal?"

"Deal."

And so, they broke into a run. It didn't take long for the Silverwings to find their trail, and since they didn't have to deal with deliberating wounds and overexertion, soon they were less than a few hundred yards behind them. When the duo were finally exhausted of running and realized that the cover of the mountain was basically useless at this point anyways- what with an army of experienced trackers on your tails- they took to the air.

Though the Silverwings now tried to catch up with a rejuvenated vigor, they were just a bit too far behind. Bright's energy was quickly fading, though, and it was only a matter of time before he collapsed.

However, luck was one their side. For just as they crested what looked like another ridge-

The Glacier.

It was gigantic- stretching as far as the eye could see to the east and west. To the north, however, far nearer to the horizon than he would've liked, Kiwi could make out some trees.

He sighed in relief, but Bright simply tensed up more. "Oh lord, I don't want to go back in there." He panted as they flew down the slope, underbellies closer to the ground than they would've liked.

"Wait,' Kiwi gasped. "You've been _in_ the glacier?"

Bright was breathing really heavily, and his wound meant that he had considerably less stamina. "I have. And _fuck_ , I don't want to do it again."

They were halfway down the slope, black rock with spots of white contrasted with the sheer block of ice that constituted the glacier. The closer the dragons got to it, the more massive it seemed.

Kiwi glanced over his shoulder to see how far behind the Silverwings were. What he saw did not please him.

"Fuck, they're right on our tail." He said, picking up speed. Bright was obviously struggling, but he kept going.

They were almost to the base of the mountain now, and from this angle, the glacier towered far above their heads. As they ran towards it, it began to fill up their field of vision until all they could see in front of them was the clear ice. They could see through it, and it seemed to get darker and darker until it was pitch black, somewhere in the depths.

That scared both of them much more than they were willing to admit.

Finally, they noticed a small entrance into the glacier, and barreled towards it. Close behind them followed what felt like the entire Silverwing army.

As their run towards the glacier turned into a frantic dash, Kiwi found himself to be utterly terrified of what awaited them in those depths. And almost before they knew it, they were inside the tunnel. As Kiwi extended his claws to latch into the ground, Bright collapsed from exhaustion and slid along the icy floor. They slowed down, and finally stopped about twenty feet inside the cave.

"Bright, we gotta move!" Kiwi urged, ready to run further into the glacier. From here, the Silverwings could easily extract them and drag them back out. Their only hope was to loose them in the labyrinthine ice. Bright, however, paid him no heed.

"Come on!" he hissed, turning to drag him until he saw what Bright saw.

Hundreds of Silverwings barreling down the mountain towards the opening. They all seemed bloodthirsty. Upon seeing the massive horde of Silverwings making their way towards them, Bright turned back to Kiwi.

"I feel weird." He said, before collapsing onto the ground and puking up his guts.

"Bright!" Kiwi exclaimed. He got down to help him, but stopped when he realized that the dragon's scales were turning bright red.

"…Bright?" he asked as the young Sapphirewing wiped his lips, and turned to the cave entrance.

"Stay. Back." He forced out.

And then he screamed, the noise exploding from his chest in an expression of raw pain. Yet as Kiwi overcame his doubt, and ran towards him, they both began to lift into the air.

Time slowed as suddenly; the air became suspiciously dry. All the water the air had just lost condensed around Bright, whose eyes were now burning- _literally_ burning, with a physical flame. The smoke pooled in the ceiling of the tunnel, casting odd shadows into the miles of ice suspended above their heads.

And suddenly, there was another wall of ice between them and the Silverwings. It was instantaneous, not taking even a second.

The ice was still clear, though, and Kiwi could see the Silverwings stop, paw confusedly at the ice- which was almost ten feet deep- and finally, turn and walk away.

"…Bright?" he asked again, turning to the dragon, who suddenly dropped to the ground, somehow still on his feet, panting.

"That wasn't supposed to happen." he muttered, before collapsing completely.

The fire slowly faded from his eyes, and the red slowly faded from his scales as his breath slowed down to normal.

"…what?"

 **~I just thought of a really good plot thing that could explain everything praise be im such a genuis~**

The rest of the summit had gone as expected. While many of the queens had voted yes, including Thorn and Glory, many more had voted no. Queen Ruby had made a good point when telling the assembled Queens her decision;

"…I would truly like nothing more than to help our fellow dragons. However, there is the small problem of motivation. These Silverwings have done nothing to us personally, and I fear that, if we ask our troops to mobilize as one against them, they won't have any motivation to keep fighting. As we all know, there are two things that are integral in war- hope, and a common enemy. Without any motivation to fight these 'Silverwings', I fear we will lose both."

In the end, it was four to three. Snowfall voted no, along with Ruby, Moorhen, and Coral.

"I will say this," Snowfall said as the proceedings drew to a close. "I will offer sanctuary and protection to any Sapphirewing or, as the prophecy states is possible, Lightwing, that ends up coming to our shores. Unfortunately, as I have already stated, I see no reason to spread our forces out so thin, and potentially give up all of our advantages. I thank you all."

And so, the summit was over. The Queens all retired back to their tents, except Snowfall and Neptune, who instead immediately took to the skies. It made sense, Qibli supposed, since they didn't have a tent, and they did have a kingdom to get back to running. They all did.

He watched the two of them climb higher, and higher, until they cleared the clouds and headed north. They appeared to strike up a good conversation too, which would definitely help on the long flight.

"Still thinking about her?" Moon asked as she walked up next to him.

Qibli jumped, about to justify himself before he saw the mirth dancing in her eyes, making them glint in the sunlight.

"…fine. I am."

"I'm thinking about her too." She admitted; slowly breaking eye contact to look at the two specks in the distance.

"I mean, she's running a kingdom in this state, and she barely even shows it!" the Nightwing said with wonderment evident in her voice. "She… she's so amazingly strong."

Qibli looked at her; at the lines on her forehead, at her pursed lips, at the way her talons fidgeted nervously with each other.

At the shimmer of a distant promise in her eyes.

"…Still thinking about Winter, are we?" he asked nonchalantly.

Now it was Moon's turn to jump.

"That's fine." The Sandwing responded, turning to watch the retreating figures once more. "I'm thinking about our stubborn donkey too."

They stood in silence, watching as the two specks merged into one, and then dissolved into the blue of the sky.

"…how close are we to the Talons of Powers' hideout?" Moon asked nonchalantly.

"Close enough that we could get there and back to Jade Mountain without anybody noticing we took a detour." Qibli responded without missing a beat.

"It's settled then." Moon said, gearing herself up for flight.

"We're finally visiting Winter, huh?" Qibli asked her, but didn't offer up any resistance.

"Yup." She responded, launching herself into the air. Qibli followed suit.

And soon the two dragons were lost among the clouds.

 **~look ma no logical sense~**

Thorn burst into the room. She had been told what had happened as soon as she had come back from the summit. It was currently bustling with servers, doctors and nurses, but she didn't have eyes for any of them. The one person she was interested in was-

 _There._

Smoulder.

He lay in the bed assigned to him, looking like a rag doll that had been kicked around too much. His breathing was slow and there was a massive gash wound in his chest.

A doctor stood next to the bed, looking down at him sadly.

"What happened?" she asked him, fearing the worst.

The doctor sighed. "He'd organized a scavenger hunt for Onyx, and sent a serving girl to follow her at a distance so she wouldn't get too lost. The last stage was on the parapets, so she went up with them, but stayed out of sight. Around midnight- yes, they stayed up there that long- the serving girl was asleep, but she woke up when she heard screaming. She told us that she looked onto the parapet, but saw only that Smoulder had a knife in his chest- from her vantage point, at least. She ran down to get a surgeon, and as she was running, she heard screams from Onyx that sounded like quote 'somebody dying' and a third voice that simply laughed or giggled. Five minutes later, a surgeon and a guard found him, and Onyx and the third voice were gone. We did, however, find these."

At this, the physician presented her with a bowl.

"You… may not like what you see."

Thorn looked inside for only a second before reeling back. "Oh god, is that…"

"Onyx's talons and one of her eyes? Yes. We believe the following occurred- Onyx found an assassin, tried to stop her, failed, and then left in pursuit of her. We're sure Smoulder can tell us more, but we wanted you to be here when we woke him up."

Thorn nodded, trying desperately to hide her emotions.

The doctor waved down a nurse, and took from her a small corked bottle. He uncorked it, and held it under Smoulder's nose. In just a few seconds, the dragon coughed, and opened his eyes.

Thorn was next to him in an instant, talons on his shoulders.

"Smolder, are you alright?"

Smolder gasped, feeling his chest- presumably for the dagger. He seemed confused until he saw her, at which point he smiled, but suddenly stopped as he looked around the room.

"Where's Onyx?" he asked.

"She left. We don't know where."

Smolder was silent for a minute.

"No, no, NO!" he cried. "G-get somebody out there! Find her!"

"Smoulder, stop!" Thorn steadied him, softly stroking his cheek, and his breathing slowly slowed down to normal.

"Start from the beginning." She soothed, climbing into the cot with him. Smoulder sighed, and told her all about their day, about the fun they'd had, about how Onyx had finally opened up, and finally, how they had gone to the parapets to watch the sunset. Then, how the assassin had shown up, and finally how he had nearly died.

"God." Thorn said once he was finished, with her talons over her mouth. The doctor cleared his throat and began speaking.

"This explains a few things. First, how an assassin as good as this would miss the heart- she didn't. Onyx's sacrifice meant that the blade missed by a fraction of an inch- which was enough to save your life. Second, why you're still alive- the salt in her tears made your blood pressure higher, which got more air into your brain more quickly. Without it, you would've asphyxiated. As we honestly expected you too."

"Lord, she must be so badly hurt!" Thorn exclaimed, trying not to think about it too hard, lest she burst into tears. She would weep for her foster daughter later, in private.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Smoulder said softly.

Thorn curled up next to him and intertwined their tails, encouraging him to speak.

"…she's broken, Thorn. Onyx, I mean. She's so full of anger, bitterness, self-hatred… and yesterday she made a big step forward. She trusted me she- she called me dad…"

Thorn hugged him tightly, letting the sobs that shook his body subside.

"…if she thinks that I'm dead… then… who knows what she'll do?"

"What she'll do to others?"

"…and what she'll do to herself."

 **A/N: Yeah, I lied. Smolder is still kicking.**

 **Regardless, I originally planned to fully kill off Smolder, until I actually began writing him dying and realized I'm not a bad enough person to do that.**

 **Wait.**

 **Lemme rephrase that. I'm not good enough of a writer to do that.**

 **So, in this version, Onyx thinks he's dead, but he's actually alive and bedridden. This will cause problems, but I'm sure I'll find ways to alleviate them. Also, I think there's an irony here- to save Onyx, Smolder hurt her. When trying to save him, Onyx takes most of the damage herself.**

 **Also, this means that Gloomsinger technically failed on her mission. Until you realize there's more than one father in Pyrrhia.**

 ***EPIC FORESHADOWING***

 **Seriously though, review. I needs reviev.**


	18. Interlude 1

Interlude 1

So, dear readers, I've decided that the story will be split into three major parts. The first part has just ended, so I decided to take some time out and recap just what has happened so far, for anybody who's a tad bit confused.

*looks pointedly, but not in a bad way, at Blackberry Avar*

A war has been raging on the lost continent, between the Silverwings and Sapphirewings. Kiwi, a Rainwing who flew across the ocean on a scouting mission, and Brightheart, a Sapphirewing with a massive injury and stronger-than-normal powers, are stuck in the south, attempting to head north and make it to one of the last Sapphirewing settlements, so as to avoid dying at the hands of the Lightwings.

At the same time, Kiwi's mother, the well-meaning but incredibly neglectful Shimmer, is stuck in a Lightwing settlement, heading towards Crow Mountain- a massive black landmark that looks ominous, and presumably has another Rainwing trapped somewhere inside it. Among them is Longsnout, a young child who is a hybrid Silver-Sapphirewing, and one of his parents is the Silverwing queen. Together, they run into an amicable Silverwing named Alex, and her 'grandmother', Gran-gran.

Odd things are happening, though. The Silverwings act irrationally when they initially mistake Shimmer as a Sapphirewing, even though they're perfectly fine around her when they have more time to study her (as in the case of Alex and Gran-gran). A Silverwing general far too obsessed with contractions breaks down when his cadets fail at bringing in Bright, and looks to Kiwi for emotional support. What could be causing this?

Back in Pyrrhia, a lot is happening. Let's start at Jade Mountain- Blue and Green, the 'last' of the Lightwings, are attending the academy, and though they seem to be fitting in well, they are both in danger of having their secret revealed to the academy by either; Moon and Qibli, who Green had sent away using her mind manipulation powers, or Pluto, who Green used her manipulation powers in front of.

Speaking of Pluto, he's a Nightwing with orange eyes and a dark secret- voices inside his head constantly argue and fight over what they should do, and he sometimes transforms into a more homicidal version of himself. A version that can very easily kill people, wink wink.

Accompanying them is Pike, a person who is secretly obsessed with gardening, but is outwardly obsessed with keeping his charge, Princess Anemone, safe. Speaking of the Princess, she is dating…

Tamarin, a blind dragoness who will undoubtedly have a plot arc at some point. When I figure one out for her.

Meanwhile, after a lengthy debate, the queens have decided against sending any help, but have agreed to hide/defend any dragons who come over to their continent. As the proceedings wrap up, Qibli and Moon realise that they are close to the town of Possibility, and that the Talons of Power headquarters are nearby. So, they decide to go visit Winter, who is conducting research into Scavengers.

Speaking of plotlines that will eventually merge, Onyx, who is currently on the run away from the Sand Kingdom, because she believes Smoulder is dead (he isn't). She was getting better, but that was stopped by…

Midnight, a young assassin who apparently had a tumultuous childhood, and is presumably moving towards a place where she can find a son, a sister and a mother. Probably Jade Mountain.

 _ **G.**_

I should also mention I read a story by another couple of writers called 'In the Light of the Moons'. I find it fascinating, since it details what life would've been like if Starflight actually had Nightwing powers, and I love it so far. Also, it gave me the perfect excuse to basically recap the Dragonet Prophecy! Which means I finally remember the character of the dragons in the original group! Which means I can finally begin giving them larger roles…

Regardless, that's about it. Till next time, dears!

…

Oh also, I heard about the whole "Moonbli or Winterwatcher" debate. And I'm in a bit of a pickle, because I agree with both camps. Yes, one is canon and incredibly cute, but the other gives us so many opportunities for character growth and drama. I pondered this for many, many hours, but in the end, I decided to solve the problem (like the genuis™ I am) by simply choosing the choice that will piss the maximum amount of people off. I'm quite good at doing that. Anyways, leave speculation about what that choice is, or tell me not to do it, or tell me that I don't know how romance works…

Also updates will get slower until around May 23rd, because exams are coming! After that I can get going again.

I need more caffeine.

Point being please review, reviews are my lifeblood I need them to survive im like a review vampire-


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 _IMPORTANT: This chapter has some heavy stuff and warnings associated with it. Scroll to the bottom to read the warnings, and please proceed with caution. If you think I could've done better, feel free to PM me, or leave a review! I'm always looking to improve my writing, and to try and address subjects like this with the respect they deserve._

 **A/N: I know it's only four days after my last update, but I'm on a fucking roll. The slump that comes after this is gonna be _epic._**

 **Forgot to mention this, but we are now longer than Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Rejoice! Also, do any of you guys know how to draw? I'd really, REALLY like to learn, but unfortunately the little I've tried to draw has turned out basically terrible.**

 **Also, (Blackberry Avar) I began reading Dragons Change, and I don't know how, but by pure coincidence they decided to do the same "Moon broke Winter" thing that I decided to do. The difference, I guess, will be that this will anger more fans. Also, this is considerably more serious.**

 **(running commentary as I'm reading Dragons Change** _ **really**_ **fast)**

wtf did they do to my boy Qibli. Wait, he insulted Moon's intelligence? The hell? Wait, Thorn is evil now? what's happening. Oh wait, it'd be clever if Winter leaving did this. That would be fun. But seriously, why is everybody an asshole now? oh jade mountain is fine. Was it just heatstroke, or cactus juice like in avatar? Ohhhh, weird death cult. That's always interesting. Do hope the effects are reversible, though. YO WHAT THE FUCK QIBLI JUST KILLED SOMEBODY OH MY SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS, CRAP HE HIT MOON JACK-IN-THE-BOX JESUS WHAT IS GOING ON ohhhh, they were just implants. Also, I don't mean to nitpick, but changewings is a terrible name. Rainwings aren't called venomwings. Nightwings aren't called liarwings. You see the problem. It isn't big though. Wait, how to train your dragons named a species changewings? I didn't know that. Also, I wanna give winter a hug. OH GOD SECRETKEEPER NO. wait darkstalker? why and how. isn't he peacekeeper now? IM CONFUSED BUT STILL EXCITED eyyy what if Moon turns out to be one of them that would be cool OOOHH OOOHH I KNOW WHO THE SKY CHAMPION IS ITS FLAME INNIT HE'LL HAVE A REDEEMING ARC IM SO HAPPY and between MoonBlaze and and Winterwatcher I would choose Winterwatcher tbh.

 **(running commentary over)**

 **Well, that was a fun 15 minutes! Let's begin the crapfest that is this chapter.**

 **Real talk though, I rewrote this chapter thrice- each time after I had already written about 5,000 words. And these were not the revisions I usually do to polish up the chapter- these were top to bottom, delete-all-the-text type rewrites. This was bloody difficult. Also, fanfiction DOT net refuses to cooperate with my formatting.**

 **On that note, I hope you enjoy this more than I did. Which is not a high bar to clear.**

 **Initiating second phase…**

* * *

 _[Journal, Day 1]_

 _She isn't coming._

 _It should've been obvious, but I was just way too fucking stupid to see it._

 _She isn't coming._

 _I don't know why, but it hurts_ so _much more than anything that's happened to me before._

 _Maybe it's because Moon was the first person I truly loved- maybe it's because I bared my heart and soul to her, maybe it's because she was the first person that really cared for me, maybe it's because I'm a pathetic shite. It could be any number of things. And I hate that I don't know which one._

 _Yesterday, I took a trip down to the Talons of Peace headquarters. One of the guys there took one look at me, told me he knew heartbreak when he saw it, and instructed me to start keeping a journal. Apparently, it helps._

 _I was planning to do a log on my research into the scavengers too, so I guess this'll just be writing practice. I have enough paper, after all._

 _I just want it to stop hurting. I don't want it to feel like it's my fault._

 _Is that too much to ask?_

 _[Scavenger, Log 1]_

 _Woke up early today morning. Moved to vantage point near nest. Unsure how far nest extends into rock, but appears to be substantial distance. Certain members leave nest before sunrise to hunt, others dispose of waste, still others begin activities inside nest- which the author has not been able to directly observe._

 _[Journal, Day 2]_

 _I can't sleep._

 _I don't know. Life seems to have no meaning without her, which is stupid because I have a purpose now. I'm studying scavengers! It's my lifelong dream!_

 _I don't understand it. I keep thinking about everything I could've done differently, and in the end I've just come to the conclusion that there was nothing._

 _The problem didn't lie in what I was doing- the problem lies in me just being myself._

 _It's a horrid feeling- the idea that I was repulsive enough to drive her away._

 _But I can understand why she did it. Isn't her fault that I'm a disgusting piece of shit._

 _[Scavenger, Log 4]_

 _Society seems to be segregated based on work member does, rather than quality of work. There is no power structure. That makes it horizontally collectivist. For reference, Icewings vertically individualist- worst kind of society. Refer to scroll "Segregation of Tribes"._

 _Hunters leave nest before dawn, carrying primitive yet surprisingly effective weapons. Examining the one the author was stabbed with reveals a bit of sharpened iron on a wooden shaft. Appears to be simple spear, but wood is carved for long distance throwing- as the author can attest. Ears surprisingly sharhp, and reflexes surprisingly fast- though the result isn't generalizable to the nest, and the author is not keen on going around and getting stabbed by more of these spears just to have a larger sample size._

 _[Journal, Day 5]_

 _So, I've been thinking about everybody in my life._

 _They've all left me. I have nobody left. And I have nobody but myself to blame, because they tried. They did. Moon tried. So did Qibli. And Kinkajou. And I shunned each and every single one of them._

 _I acted like crap, tried to assert my power over them, tried to tell them I was better than them- when_ I'm _actually the bottom of the barrel. I'm the worst scum Pyrrhia has to offer._

 _And of course, let's not forget all the people I left in the Ice Kingdom thinking I was dead. Sure, they wouldn't have really cared either way, but that isn't an excuse._

 _I'm a terrible person._

 _[Scavenger, Log 5]_

 _The Scavengers are storing food for the winter. This was determined by measuring the difference between the waste they dump off the mountain and the amount of food they have taken into the nest. It is possible to both help them in this quest, and see if they really are intelligent. The author simply has to determine the experimental apparatus._

 _[Journal, Day 6]_

 _Is there a point in my life when I haven't been utterly miserable?_

 _No. There hasn't._ _I've never been truly happy. At least, not until I met her._

 _I dream about her sometimes now. She's always the same- talking about a scroll, and it sounds suspiciously like something I've been writing- a story, about me and her- and her eyes are vibrant and radiant, and she looks so happy that I can't help it and I- I just want her to be here._

 _To be here with me._

 _And yet, why would she be? I'm not a good person- especially not good enough for her. I'm just a pathetic piece of shit whining about my problems like a petulant child. Although, considering how I acted towards my friends, I guess I'm not really far off from one._

 _Except a child doesn't know better. I'm_ supposed _to know._

 _Guess I'm just a stupid fuck._

 _[Scavenger, Log 9]_

 _The apparatus has been designed and built, and observed for over a day. Said apparatus is a fruit dispenser, with a small barrier covering the opening. Removing the barrier leads to some of the fruit falling out, but later a spring replaces the barrier again. The author has collected a lot of fruit, and placed it into the dispenser, and placed the dispenser in the middle of a maze. It is now simply a matter of seeing what the scavengers do._

 _[Journal, Day 9]_

 _I worry about her._

 _I wonder where she is._

 _If she's in danger._

 _If she's happy._

 _If she misses me._

 _Well, I know the answer to that last one._

 _I just wish that I could see her one last time._

 _To apologize to her, maybe. To tell her that I'm sorry for every single_ god-damned _thing I've ever done to her. And everybody else._

 _I think about it at night sometimes._

 _Fantasize about a grand gesture, in which I arrive at Jade Mountain in the middle of the night. And take her outside, and show her the stars, and tel her I am so, so, so fucking sorry about everything._

 _It's never going to happen. I'm too much of a coward for that. But it doesn't hurt to think._

 _[Scavenger, Log 10]_

 _Scavengers discovered food source, brought along a few self-fashioned carts, and very efficiently moved all the fruit into their nest. One of the scavengers even noticed the author, but did nothing. Is it possible that they have recognized the author as a non-threat? It is debatable. Only further observation will tell._

 _[Journal, Day 10]_

 _She shows up in my dreams now. She's infiltrated my life completely, even though I don't know where she is, or what she's doing, or how she feels. She's all I draw. She's all I write about. She's all I think about. I can't stop, no matter how much I want to._

 _Sometimes I think of the life we could have together. I think of her sleeping next to me. I think of her lips on mine, her scales sliding_ against _-_

 _It's sickening. I don't have the right to think about her like that- I don't have the right to think about her at all._

 _It disgusts me. I want to stop._

 _But I can't. No matter how hard I try._

 _[Scavenger, Log 11]_

 _They seem to be able to navigate any pattern of maze. The author will continue conducting experiments with more and more complicated mazes, and see how they react._

 _[Journal, Day 12]_

 _I am pitiful in my love for her._

 _I pine at her feet like a worshipper at the altar of a goddess._

 _She visits me in my sleep. When I dream, it is only of her._

 _I think about what we could have together._

 _What we_ should _have had together._

 _We_ should _be together._

 _[Scavenger, Log 11]_

 _More of the same._

 _[ Journal, Day 12]_

 _I've been thinking about that fucker Qibli. He's the one that_ _dragged Moon away from me._

 _Without him, we could've been happy together._

 _Without him, we could've been free._

 _[Scavenger, Log 13]_

 _More of the same._

 _[ Journal, Day 13]_

 _You know, I treated my friends like shit. But they weren't much better._ _They never trusted me- they never tried to understand what I was going through._

 _They didn't even tell me how they defeated Darkstalker. No matter what I told them, no matter how much I begged them, no matter the fact that they had known me for so long, no matter the fact that I_ had _changed, no matter_ anything.

 _They were_ _just as bad as I was. I don't even know if I can call them my friends anymore._

 _Moon is still stuck in my head. I can't bring myself to group her in with the others. She's the only one out of that entire damn Winglet that understood me._

 _I miss her._

 _Desperately. Achingly. Maddeningly._

 _[Scavenger, Log 14]_

 _More of the same._

 _[Journal, Day 14]_

 _No! This is wrong. I'm going back and reading through everything, and this isn't like me! God, Qibli was annoying, but he's my friend! My other friends not telling me what they did to Darkstalker was reasonable!_ I _knew that I wasn't going to kill him, wherever he was, but they didn't! More importantly, I don't need to drag Moon into this! It isn't even about her anymore! Its just about my sick fucking demented mind._

 _I need to stop this bullshit._

 _[ Scavenger, Log 16]_

 _More of the same._

 _[Journal, Day 17]_

 _It doesn't help._

 _Nothing helps._

 _I'm utterly miserable._

 _And now I'm trying to pin the blame for Moon not liking me on Qibli, a dragon who could not possibly be kinder to everybody around him- including her. Along with_ _trying to pin the blame for the situation I'm in on my friends- friends who tried to keep me from killing another dragon because they know how stupid I am._

 _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

 _The dreams have gotten worse. They're much more vivid. I see her everywhere- in the darkness of the night, her eyes peek out from the corners; the rafters; right next to me in bed-_

 _I don't want to do this anymore._

 _I just want it to stop._

 _[Scavenger, Log 17]_

 _More of the same._

 _[Journal, Day 18]_

 _I tried it today._

 _I didn't ever think I would stoop this low, but I did. Honestly, I should stop being surprised when I think I've hit rock bottom, but it's just another shelf before I drop further. It's almost a theme with my life._

 _I conducted all the studies with the scavengers, set up more mazes that they solved in minutes, and came back. To my tiny cottage, with barely any food, maybe a solitary candle, and reminders of her scattered everywhere._

 _And I sat down, to wait for night- to wait for all the thoughts about her to come back. The dreams, the fantasies, the... the_ images, a _nd I realized what I'd become. What I've begun doing._

 _I've been obsessing- no,_ lusting _over a person that, until recently, was my best fucking friend._ _It's become so frequent that I've gotten used to the thoughts, the dreams, the fantasies; everything._

 _And I can't stop. I have absolutely no control over my own mind._

 _It sickens me._

I _sicken myself._

 _And I decided I would do something about that._

 _And that something was cutting myself._

 _Right across both wrists, with that spear that damn Scavenger threw at me. The thing was surprisingly effective._

 _It hurt like a motherfucker, and I couldn't even sit there and just let the fucking life drain from me. Ended up ripping my bedsheet to shreds and reusing the scraps as bandages._

 _I'm too much of a coward to even do the right fucking thing. For both Moon and me. And everybody else in my fucking life._

 _[Scavenger, Log 21]_

 _More of the fucking same._

 _[ Journal, Day 23]_

 _I've realized that the easiest way to deal with the pain, the humiliation, the anger and feelings of betrayal, is to do it over and over again._

 _Go right to the edge, and just as your vision is giving out, and your breath is slowing, and the merciful release of death is coming faster, stop the bleeding. Initially, I used my bedsheets. Now I only need those for the aftermath- the wound is very effectively closed by my icebreath. It hurts, too, which is an added bonus._

 _It's all I've been doing for the past few days- revelling in the feeling of pain, misery and freedom. At least, freedom until I eventually have to stop._

 _I don't know why I'm like this. This shallow, depraved hunk of a person._

 _Why am I even alive?_

 _[Scavenger, Log 25]_

 _Does it even fucking matter?_

 _[Journal, Day 27]_

 _My arms are now crisscrossed with scars. I've done it so many times over the past week, and each time I come so close to that release, and then back off._

 _I've realized why I like it so much. I'm punishing myself for being this way. I'm hurting myself to make up for all the people I've hurt, hoping that'll somehow make it better._

 _It won't._

 _I still dream about her. I still see her everywhere. I still imagine us having a life. I still… do things. And it feels like I'm violating her memory. It's fucking sick._

 _But I can't seem to stop it._

 _And that just makes me want to cut more._

 _I should just fucking kill myself one of these days._

 _[Scavenger, Log 29]_

 _Another scavenger saw the author (maybe the author needs to learn how to sneak around better) and waved to him. Afterwards, the author found a suspiciously dead stag- apparently killed by a throwing spear. Evidently, this is a peace offering. These scavengers may be far more intelligent than we think._

 _[Journal, Day 30]_

 _So, I finally know what I'm going to do._

 _Prove the scavengers are intelligent._

 _Give my research to one of the people at the Talons of peace, and tell them to publish it._

 _And then off myself._

 _What else can I do?_

 _I don't have much to live for._ _Except maybe her._

 _And let's be honest, considering the things I'm doing, considering the ways I'm remembering her, and especially considering how I've treated her and everybody around her…_

 _I don't deserve her._

 _Me dying will be the best thing that's ever happened to me. And, even though she won't know it, to her too._

* * *

 **~it gets sadder~**

As he woke up that day, sleep deprived and irritable, Winter felt… almost excited.

Or at least, as close to excitement he could get in this mental state. As he slowly dragged himself out of his cot, cold pre-dawn air not fazing him in the slightest, feet disturbing the piles of papers strewn across the floor of his tiny cottage- just a bed against one wall, a writing desk against the other, a window on the third, and a door set into the fourth- he felt a small spark somewhere deep in his heart. There was a modicum of hope, joy, mirth…

He knew that today, it finally ended.

Finally, after almost a month of continuous work, he had proof of scavenger intelligence. His work was done.

Yesterday, as it was nearing noon, he had observed a few smaller scavengers- probably children- slowly walk out of the caves, holding hands in one large chain. They were accompanied by several hunters with both short-range and long-range weapons. They didn't venture too far outside- only a few feet at most.

One of the adults got the children's attention, and gestured to where Winter was standing. The scavenger children had looked him up and down, despite most of his form being hidden behind some trees, and then they'd all walked back inside.

It was a bit confusing. Obviously, a smarter dragon would've figured it out faster, but he hadn't been able to figure it out until late last night, when he had been doing another drawing of Moon, the blood from his most recent incisions dripping from his arms.

Of course, the young children wouldn't have seen a dragon before! And therefore, they wouldn't know a dragon when they saw one- which would be a problem in certain situations- such as when a dragon was attacking the nest.

So they had brought the scavenger kids out and shown them Winter- a dragon. More specifically, a docile dragon.

The hunters, after seeing that he didn't mean them harm, had given him a peace offering, and then assumed he would be mostly friendly- assumed correctly, he might add. Even then, they hadn't taken any risks- what with the keeping close to the nest, and having several armed guards.

It was utterly brilliant.

And exactly what he would've done in that situation.

He had all the evidence, he'd realized- now it was simply a matter of documenting it. He had shuffled through the piles of poetry about her, tossed aside the pictures that he wished could leap from the page and assimilate in real life, turning into her beautiful _form-_

Eventually, upon finding a blank page, he'd written down his observations, and he was done. It was proven, and it was all finally over.

And so the last day of his life loomed on the horizon.

One last night of restless tossing, seeing her face in the darkness.

One last day of observing the scavengers, those clever, clever miracles of nature.

And then he would send the research off, and burn the cottage down.

With him inside.

A fitting end for an Icewing, he considered as he walked over to the window and flung it open. Especially one who'd already come close to death by fire, thanks to Peril.

 _Wasn't her fault, fucktard._ He thought, looking out at the scenery, still shrouded by a dark veil.

 _It was yours._

He jumped out, beating his wings once to reach the cliff only a few yards from the cottage, rotating in the air and diving down. The freezing air stung his face and his eyes watered, but even though he had made this journey enough that he could probably do it blindfolded, he kept his eyes open. That was so that he could witness what came next.

The mountains were jagged dark beasts scattered across the landscape, all a mess of craggy peaks and trees dotting the uneven slopes, and the lack of light certainly didn't do them any favours. But just as he beat his wings once, hard, to stop his freefall, the sun crested over a nearby ridge, and Winter was almost blinded.

The aurora faded to reveal a glorious rainbow array of colours flaring over the landscape. Blinking the spots out of his eyes, he slowed and stopped on a nearby outcropping, and watched the light creep across the landscape, slowly revealing details he hadn't been able to see before- animals running across the valley floor, birds fluttering from tree to tree. Rivers carved swathes through the valley, whereas smaller streams and brooks bounced along over rocks.

Everything he could see from here was a testament to the beauty of the world. And he felt glad that this would be his last sunrise, for it was so, so very pretty.

Trying to convince himself that the watering of his eyes was simply due to the biting breeze, he got up and began walking along the mountain.

Turning another corner, he came upon his pride and joy- relatively speaking, of course, since there was so little of either in his life- the Scavenger nest. A tiny city built into small caverns all over the rock face entirely by the Scavengers. He was unsure of how far into the mountain it extended, or how large the colony was. But he had still done a lot of research into them in the month or so since he had been here.

He'd proven their intelligence, after all.

He sat down and watched the scavengers. Usually, he would observe their behaviour, hidden among some trees, watching their odd little mannerisms and the like.

Today, though, he sat in plain sight. As he looked at the Scavengers scurrying in and out of the cave, he found himself almost in tears. Each person in that nest… they had a purpose.

Like him.

Rather, he had _had_ a purpose. And now that it was done, he was essentially useless. He would be doing the world a favor by taking that final step.

He sat and watched the nest for what felt like- and probably was- hours. There was simply something soothing about the constant movement, the implications of something more complicated going on behind the scenes, the many tiny people going about their lives.

Besides, it was always fun to realize that these scavengers trusted him more than his friends.

 _Your friends were correct not to trust you, you idiot._ He thought. _The fact that you care about these Scavengers more than your 'friends' is a testament to how you treated them, and how much they_ really _mean to you._

There was no arguing against that.

Finally, as the sun passed the highest point in the sky, he got up and spread his wings.

Giving the nest one last glance, his gaze fell onto a scavenger who, by the looks of it, had just arrived. The critter had dusty brown fur, a slight spring in his step, and looked to be a bit smaller than average. The little guy looked around and suddenly noticed the very large and very threatening dragon standing off to the side. He froze, eyes only on the Icewing, who simply smiled for the first time in months, and waved. The scavenger in question smiled sheepishly, looked around, and waved back. Then he ducked inside.

On any other day, Winter would've been shocked. He would've documented the evidence- _scavengers more like dragons than we realised? -_ a potential title came to mind. He would've conducted behavioural studies, he would've attempted communication, he would've tried _something_.

Today, though, he wasn't interested in any of that.

His life as he knew it was going to end tonight.

One way or another.

So, what was the point?

* * *

 **~Sad innit**

He sat on his cot, looking down at his talons and thinking about everything.

He had delivered the papers about two hours ago. Given them to one of the guys at the Talons of Peace with special instructions to print it out and send it across Pyrrhia. When asked about who would foot the cost, he had given the dragon his mother's name and rank in the Ice Kingdom.

She at least deserved to know what her son had done. And what her son was soon going to do.

Besides, he couldn't deny that he wanted her to try and weasel her way out of actually paying up. If she managed it, or hell, even if she tried, it would be a testament to his worth in her eyes.

But after today, he wasn't going to have to worry about his mother. Or anything, actually. It was finally going to be over.

His plan was to light the place on fire at sundown. That way, at least, it would bring more light into the lives of the Talons of peace than he ever could.

And as he waited for day to end, he contemplated his life.

His childhood amongst the Icewings; he'd grown up in what he now recognised as a toxic household, amongst toxic people, who expected him to do so much solely on his own. Even at the age of two, his society and parents had completely rejected him- and the things he'd had to do in his desperate scramble back up the social ladder had… changed him. For the worse.

His time at Jade Mountain; he'd pushed away everybody who he'd perceived as below him, acted like an ass, and to top it all off, had ran away to help the Icewings, abandoning his friends for a tribe that had given him absolutely nothing. And he had, in the end ended up losing Moon because of it.

And lastly, his time here. Studying the Scavengers, struggling to get Moon out of his mind, almost turning against the only people in his life who had ever cared about him, realizing what a terrible person he was, and finally, deciding to take the easy way out.

 _Coward._

As the sun finally began dipping below the horizon, Winter got up, closed and latched the window. Though it was possible that the fire he was going to set would run out of air and extinguish, he would either asphyxiate or burn to death long before that, and there were enough cracks in the old wood to let air in. The cottage itself wouldn't be missed- it was a relic from the past, left behind by a nomad nobody really remembered.

Much like himself.

Well, no, he guessed a few people would remember him. The Jade Winglet, maybe. Icicle for sure. Hailstorm, perhaps. His mother- debatable. If she did remember him, it would be in a dark part of her mind she kept hidden from her tribe for shame.

So, finally, as the light faded from the world and the air grew colder, Winter readied himself. Quietly, he stuck a match against the bedpost. The acrid smoke rose into the air as he pinched the wick of the candle, preparing to set it aflame.

And then everything fell apart.

Just as he'd ignited the candle, and prepared to set the wick down against the wooden floor, he heard the footsteps. At first, they were faint, but they became progressively louder, until they stopped, and somebody tried the door. It, obviously, was latched for this exact reason.

He froze, wishing desperately that whoever was outside would go away.

They didn't.

And then things got worse.

"They said he'd be here." A voice from outside his door said, concerned. He recognized that voice, and his eyes grew wide. If- if _he_ was here, that meant-

 _NO._

"Well, he _is_ conducting research somewhere around here." _She_ said, and suddenly he was entranced, and terrified, and happy, and broken, and utterly, utterly smitten-

 _NO!_

He didn't even have to look outside to know who it was.

Moon. And Qibli too.

 _FUCK!_

Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him.

Everything he had thought about her.

Everything he had imagined happening between them.

Everything about _her-_

He slapped himself across the snout, breathing heavily, panicking even though part of his heart soared with the implications.

 _I can't stay here._ He thought desperately. _I'm- I'm a danger to her!_

If he stayed here, he would no doubt be caught. Qibli and Moon were blocking the door, so he couldn't leave from there. So, there was only one option left.

Getting up as quietly as he could, he walked to the wall opposite to his cot- the one with the window in it. The cliff was only a few yards away- all he had to do was get to the edge, and throw himself off. Gravity would do the rest for him. Sure, the cottage would remain intact, but if he had to choose between grandiose gesture and certain death, he would take certain death.

Throwing the shutters open, he came face to face with Moon, who had apparently chosen the perfect moment to walk around the cottage to look for another entrance.

In that instant, time seemed to slow. He took in her beautiful eyes, her face, her slightly shocked expression, and he thought about how _incredible_ -

He pulled the window shut, and latched it. Collapsing into the corner across from the door, just next to his desk, his breathing grew faster.

 _Oh lord no._

There was a desperate rapping on the window to his left.

"Winter-" Moon began, her voice sounding like the patter or rain against stone, and he imagined her delicate talons tapping against the wood, and her _radiant-_

"GO AWAY!" he yelled, curling up into the foetal position as his talons began to jitter of their own accord. His mind was racing. "JUST GO!"

"Winter, listen to me-" Moon said, her voice getting slightly more worried. Unbidden, through his mind, an image of her face- her brow knotting together, the corners of her mouth turned slightly down, her dark green _eyes-_

"GO!" he screamed louder, recognizing the signs of his mind letting go. He had barely talked to anybody for the last few months, and this definitely wasn't helping.

"Winter, listen to me!" Moon hissed.

"NO!" he yelled back, imagining her smooth scales on _his-_

And his heart dropped right into his stomach. He felt like throwing up- no, scratch that, he _was_ throwing up. The sounds of dry heaving told the two dragons standing outside that this wasn't just a case of Winter being Winter.

"Winter?" Qibli shouted anxiously. "Are you alright?"

 _There's no time._

He stumbled back to the candle. There was no escape- he had to do it _now._

Holding the wick against the wood of the floor, he watched the flame catch. Due to the diminutive size of the cabin, the spot he had set alight was only a few feet away from him.

It didn't make a difference. The outcome was the same either way.

"Moon, I smell burning." Qibli said quickly, the nervousness he felt coming through in his voice. " _And_ I think I hear a fire."

The fire Qibli heard was catching fast- the wood of the old cabin was rotting, and that meant it was much more flammable than it would usually have been. The smoke caused Winter's eyes to water. Both Moon and Qibli began banging on the window and door respectively.

"Winter, open the damn window!" Moon screamed, now punching the window even harder. At the same time, on the other side of the cabin, Qibli was coming dangerously close to breaking down the door.

The fire cackled, as if laughing at him.

There wasn't enough time.

They'd be through the door way too quickly, before it was too late to save him.

So, Winter went one step farther, to speed up the process.

Reaching up to his desk, he grabbed the sharpened spear that a scavenger had thrown at him what felt like a lifetime ago. With the sharp end he made two deep, yet very quick incisions across both of his wrists. Much, much deeper than he had ever cut before.

Immediately, he began to feel woozy. The world swam in and out of focus, and he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. The spear dropped to the ground.

Outside, Moon screamed- a bloodcurdling sound that made him snap right out of his drowsy state.

"MOON!" he and Qibli yelled at the same time.

He could hear Moon gasping for air. "Moon?" Qibli asked again, love and affection hanging heavy in his worried tones, and Winter felt a surge of sudden jealously ignite in his heart. Outside, Moon gasped. "Qibli- Qibli, break down the door-" she stammered through a mouth that was unwilling to cooperate. "He-he's trying to kill himself!"

Almost absentmindedly, Winter remembered where he kept the Starfire- in a pouch secured to his person with a piece of string. A string he had just severed as he had cut himself.

 _Just another fuckup in a life that was nothing but fuckups._ He considered.

"Winter, don't think that!" Moon began banging on the window as Qibli, who sounded like he was hyperventilating, kicked furiously at the door. "Just come out here, we can talk!"

 _She knows what I'm thinking._

The implications hit him like a boulder; but even as he dove towards the pouch containing the Starfire, which had rolled across the room, away from the flame, he began thinking. Of course, the more he tried to stop the thinking, the more he thought. The images and thoughts running through his head came unbidden, but all of them had _her-_

 _Him and Moon living right here, Moon studying the stars every night, him studying the Scavengers, building a family…_

 _Him and Moon travelling across Pyrrhia together, solving problems, being happy together…_

 _Moon comforting him as he broke down yet again, thinking about the family that had abandoned him…_

 _Moon giving him the strength to send a letter to his remaining family, telling them he was sorry, and he wished he could be a better son, but that they also needed to own up to their mistakes…_

 _Him and Moon visiting her mother in the rainforest, telling her about them, her approving…_

 _Them getting-_

His fist closed around the pouch containing the Starfire, and he grasped it so tightly that blood exploded from the cut on his right wrist. A mist of red suddenly covered the surrounding area, and he gasped, the weight of what he was attempting suddenly falling on him.

Regardless, he didn't stop. Everything that had gone through his mind- all those thoughts he had struggled with, felt ashamed of, tried so hard to keep hidden- Moon had heard all of them.

And that was the final nail in the coffin.

"Damnit, Winter, open the door!" Qibli screamed, and bashed on the door hard enough that the hinges began to pop off. The wood of the door splintered under the weight of the blows. Winter watched them break, tears flowing from his eyes, almost unable to speak.

"Leave me alone." He begged, to no avail- especially since they probably couldn't hear him over the roaring flames.

 _If she doesn't hate me already,_ he thought, _she will now._

He had no right thinking those things. He had no right imagining that about her. He had no _right-_

A short, ugly, choking sob exploded from his throat, and he hacked up a storm. He felt sick and lightheaded- like he was floating but held down by weights. The thought simply made him more nauseous, and as the fire finally began coming close enough that it was searing his feet, he began coughing loudly. His eyes watered- maybe from the emotional weight, maybe from the smoke.

"Qibli, move." Moon said, sounding as if she were speaking through a mouthful of cotton, and he could hear shuffling. Suddenly, the door broke open- Moon and Qibli having thrown themselves against it at the same time.

At this point, one entire side of the cottage was being consumed by roaring flames- flames that, if allowed only a few more seconds, would completely consume him- and it created a wall in between him and Moon and Qibli. However, there was a tiny bit of the floor that wasn't on fire- and that was the bit he had first set on fire, since it had already disintegrated into ash.

"FUCK, WINTER!" Moon screamed as Qibli pushed his way into the cabin and, choking on the smoke, gasped in shock as he saw his friend curled up, bleeding profusely on the other side of a roaring fire he had probably set himself.

Disregarding their own safety, the two dragons ran through the flames- Qibli looking for all the world like he wanted to break down and cry, Moon looking like she was keeping it together for the time being.

At that moment, Winter couldn't find it in him to care. It was like he was a balloon- connected to the earth with only a small string that could break at any moment. And then Moon was standing right before him, Qibli next to her, and they were hoisting him onto their shoulders, and darting towards the door. The flames roared higher, and the smoke became too thick to breathe through, and Winter's weak heart slowly sputtered-

And then they were through, and onto the soft grass. It was twilight outside, and the fire behind them cast their grotesque shadows across the top of the mountain.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Qibli kept muttering under his breath, struggling to keep the hefty Icewing suspended in the air. "Don't you fucking dare die on me." Moon growled, and somewhere in his mostly destroyed brain, he felt a spark of happiness- happiness that was suddenly consumed by a turbulent maelstrom of negative emotions.

And then they were setting him down on a patch of grass far enough away from the flaming cottage that the sparks flying off it wouldn't affect them, Moon grabbed his arm forcefully, and looked at his wrist.

"FUCK!" she exclaimed loudly, looking like she wanted to strangle something.

Qibli had also noticed the extent of the damage, and was now inspecting Winter's other arm, which was by now drenched in blood. "We don't have any bandages." He panicked.

Moon looked around for a second, quickly assessing their lack of resources. Then she inhaled deeply and steeled her nerves.

"Cauterise the wound."

"What?" Qibli asked.

"You heard me. Cauterise the wounds. We both have fire breath, and it's the best way to stop the blood flow."

Qibli, obviously still unsure of the plan, thought to protest, but then realized that Moon was correct. Out of options, he lifted Winter's arm closer to his snout. "On three?" he asked.

Moon looked around one last time, praying for another option to present itself. Seeing nothing, she turned back to Qibli, and solemnly nodded. In that moment, Winter could tell that the two of them understood each other perfectly.

"One. Two. Three"

And the searing pain ran from up his forearms into his bones, branching at his torso, one line of white hot hurt striking his legs out from underneath him while another arched his back into nightmarish shapes, and a third impacted the base of his brain, filling his mind with images of fire and blood.

The screams were unforgettable.

Moon and Qibli stopped, their work done almost immediately. The wounds were blackened, steaming, and the aroma of cooked flesh rising off the still-tender gashes caused Qibli to stumble away from the Icewing, dropping his arm in the process, and lose his breakfast. Moon looked unnaturally green, but she elected to set Winter's arm down more gently, obviously struggling to support his torso's weight on her own.

Winter watched all of this as a bystander, not as an actual individual involved in the situation there and then. He slowly placed his weight on his talons, ignoring the _pain_ that arced into his joints and caused them to protest, and turned to face the cottage that had, by now, been completely consumed by fire, raging in the twilight. Wind blew around them to stoke the flames. Inside, paper crisped up and disappeared.

Some of the pages, however, blew outwards, towards them. Pages and pages of rough drafts, fantasies, drawings…

And so, Winter found himself looking at the remaining shambles of his life. Everything he had built; everything he had worked so hard on after he had left his previous life- his previous love- behind…

He looked upon the destruction of a symbol.

He looked upon the disassociation of a soul.

He looked upon the end of a life.

And as he did, he slowly began to weep.

* * *

 **~Y'all don't know how hard this is to write. especially for me. it hurts. A lot.~**

If there was one word he would use to describe the scene afterwards, it was awkward.

As the final embers of the cottage were extinguished by Qibli, who was tossing water from a nearby well using an old and almost comically small pail, Winter began to bawl uncontrollably.

It had finally hit him- as the last wisps of smoke abandoned his mind, and the pain faded back into a dull roar, he recognized that he had attempted to kill himself.

And he had failed at that too.

Qibli and Moon, who were still looking over the ruins of the cottage, trying to salvage something from the debris, probably couldn't hear him. All he had to do was get to the cliff-

He put out his arm, digging his claws into the soft ground to pull himself along. He ignored the pain emanating from the lacerations. If he was stealthy enough, maybe he could-

Before he could even think to move another inch, Qibli was upon him, pinning him to the ground. He tried to fight the Sandwing, but apparently all that fighting in the Scorpion Den had really paid off, because he didn't budge.

"Not. On. My. Watch" Qibli said through gritted teeth. "You stupid, _stupid_ dragon."

Winter didn't respond. Qibli had the right to be angry. They both did- Moon had probably convinced Qibli to come and visit him, expecting that they could sit down and talk, maybe about his scavenger research, how he had been holding up, the possibility of coming back to Jade Academy- and they had been greeted by a failed suicide attempt.

 _How is it possible for one dragon to fuck up so badly?_ He wondered, already knowing the answer. _Just be Winter, ex-prince and all-around asshole, I guess._

Moon slowly joined them, holding a small assortment of papers that had been scattered around the remains of the house. A couple of poems, some letters he had intended to write to her- all that had survived from that month of work.

Once more, realization took a while to dawn- but even before he could start kicking at Qibli, or begging Moon not to look at the sheets, or trying to open the cuts on his arms using his talons as a last ditch attempt, Moon casually brought the sheaf up to her mouth, and ignited it.

Winter watched as the paper blackened under the extreme temperature, and finally disintegrated into ashes. That was it. That was all. That was everything.

"T-thank you." He managed to stammer out in a voice so fragile and weak he could barely recognize it himself.

Before Moon was able to respond, Qibli got up off Winter, keeping one talon on the Icewing's back. "Moon, Skywings behind you."

Indeed, it appeared that a few Skywings were coming to inspect the source of the fire. Moon, looking at their silhouettes approaching quickly, seemed worried.

"We need to go." She said suddenly, turning back and taking Winter's arm across her shoulders again. An unspoken thought lingered in the air; _we need to go because_ this _fool here tried to kill himself and failed, and if he has to face those guys, he'll probably try to do it again._

"Let's do it." Qibli said, taking Winter's other arm across his shoulders. And with that, they hoisted Winter back onto their bodies, and began struggling towards the treeline.

And so, after half an hour of trekking through the dark woods, they ended up in a remote and dense part of the forest. The trees branches were tangled, and barely any light shone through. From his vantage point, Winter couldn't see the sky.

The three of them collapsed onto the forest floor; Qibli and Moon due to exhaustion from carrying him, he because he didn't have the strength or motor abilities to stay on his feet anymore. His burnt wrists protested when exposed to anything, and even the cool mountain air made them smart painfully.

Moon and Qibli panted loudly, trying to recover from their ordeal. Winter just sat there, picking away at scabbed-over wounds from earlier cuts.

After about a full minute of gasping for air like a fish out of water, Moon got up and stumbled to the nearest tree. There, she threw up- a dreadful, wretched sound that made Winter shiver. Wiping at her mouth, she walked back over to Qibli, and helped him off the ground.

Then she turned to him.

She didn't have to say anything. The look on her face said everything for her.

 _You repulse her._

 _She despises you._

 _You dumbfuck, you've ruined another life._

Winter closed his eyes, trying to stop the voices. That was a mistake, though- in the darkness, he saw her, watching him; except this time, she was wielding a spear similar to the one the hunters used. Casually, she twirled it, and sent it right into his chest. Blood sprayed everywhere. Words circled around his broken and battered body like a tornado, darting and twisting and cutting tiny lines into his scales that bled profusely.

 _You don't deserve her._

 _You have no right._

 _You should've died._

"…Winter?" a voice asked.

He gasped and opened his eyes again, just to find Moon staring into them.

He instantly broke away to look at the ground, but Moon was having none of it. She grabbed his snout and looked at him. To his fragile mind, it felt like she was inspecting his soul.

"Winter…" she began softly, beginning to tear up. "…why?"

And something inside him shattered.

Winter lurched forward involuntarily, and the force of the movement surprised Moon, who jumped backwards. A string of saliva hung from the corner of his mouth as he coughed and hacked at the ground.

Qibli, his eyes shining with tears at seeing his friend this way, crouched beside him and ran his talons along the Icewing's back. It really helped, and Winter was the last of the trio to divulge the contents of his stomach.

As the last wretched gasp left his throat, chased quickly by another helping of bile, Winter choked on a hiccup, and a sob tore free from his chest. Moon, who by now had begun choking on her tears too, moved forward and took his talons in hers.

He turned his face towards the earth and wept, horrendous sobs wracking his body, his face a pathetic mess of bloodshot eyes and singed scales. The tears etched paths across his face, most of them finding their way to the subtle dip in his cheekbones on either side, falling right onto his burnt arms. The salt made him scream in agony, and suddenly Qibli had stopped running his talons across the Icewing's back, and Moon had stopped holding his talons, and they both dove into his arms, faces contorted into expressions of raw pain and misery as they held him so tightly he could barely breathe.

They simply sat like that, each tangled so thoroughly into the other that they could barely move. Winter was still sobbing uncontrollably, and though Qibli and Moon tried to hide it from him, they were too.

He screamed, a sound so unnatural and eldritch that the others had no choice but to hold him even tighter, like an anchor to a ship adrift on stormy seas. After only a moment of hesitation, he leaned into one of their shoulders'- at this point, it didn't matter whose- and tried to staunch the flow of tears.

After sobbing, weeping, blubbering, and screaming some more, Winter closed his eyes and whimpered softly- a sound so pathetic and meek that Qibli and Moon could barely believe it was coming from him- the proud, arrogant Prince of the Icewings. Then again, if a month ago they had been told Winter would try to take his own life….

Winter, almost as if sensing their shock, sniffled and whispered in a voice shattered by the things he had done, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

Moon sobbed softly, and Qibli put his mouth close to the Icewing's ear, whispering "You have nothing to apologize for, nothing, you understand?" There was no anger in the Sandwing's voice anymore, and the tears dripping from his eyes revealed who he thought the blame actually lay with.

"Just- just don't _ever_ do something like that to us again." Moon said, holding back sobs as she spoke. "Damnit, Winter, what would we even do without you?"

She wrapped her wings around him, and so did Qibli, and they held him _so_ close and each one of them imagined what their lives would truly be like without the other, and soon they were back to crying into each other's arms. But this time, something was different. Somewhere deep inside a heart Winter had considered long dead, a spark ignited.

And it blazed.

And it blistered.

And it burned.

* * *

 **...**

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 **In case you're wondering about what to do now, I guess you can go and listen to 'Go Invisible 2' by the Mountain Goats. I prefer the demo version, but it doesn't appear to be on YouTube. Also, I just figured out about the whole 'Horizontal Line' thing. That's only because the formatting in this chapter- especially for the journal- was very important, and most of it was lost when I uploaded my word document, so I had to play around in the editor on the website. Also, fanfiction DOT net did an oopsie while I was editing and i lost like 500 words worth of revisions.**

 **Fuck you, fanfiction DOT net.**

 **For even more depression visit the music video for Northern Downpour by Panic! At the Disco and start crying when Brendon Urie sings 'Hey Moon, please forget to fall down.'**

 **Do review or PM me if you think there are things I could improve upon. God knows I spent hours doing this, but I'm not perfect. In fact, I might be the least perfect human being on the planet.**

 **Until next time, readers, when Qibli, Winter and Moon actually have to *gasp* work through their issues? Didn't think that would happen.**

 **Keep in mind that Qinterwatcher is coming. Don't like it? Please, tell me why, and try to change my mind. I'll enjoy dashing all your hopes and dreams.**

* * *

 _WARNINGS: Suicide, severe depression, self-harm, self-mutilation._


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 _Trigger warnings: I don't even fucking know, mentions of suicide and depression maybe._

 **A/N: ['bout 7 days after the original A/N was written.**

 **FUCK IT'S OVER**

 **This chapter ain't that good. But honestly, if I have to read through 10000 words worth of stuff to make edits again imma hang myself**

 **peace]**

 **Wassup lads I'm back.**

 **Lat chapter took a lot out of me, especially when I went back and realised fanfiction DOT net had still messed up in some places (one line had a til at the end instead of till, there was an instance where Winter called the Scavenger's hearing sharhp, and at another point it said 'icebreath' and not 'frostbreath' which is weird because I fucking remember changing it) but regardless, here we are.**

 **Also, I recently read all 40+ books in the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and can I just say wat. If you're wondering why I would do something like that, I'm clinically insane.**

 **Also, MS Word is pure and utter fucking garbage. The fucking thing can't go for 30 seconds without crashing for some stupid reason. Fuck this.**

 **There were four songs I listened to while writing this; Sandcastles (ToWonder x Severo Remix) by Adam Jensen, Pretty Things (Geo Remix) by Adam Friedmann, Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish and Comptine d'un autre ete by Yann Tiersen. I don't think you should listen to them while reading the chapter- just listen to them in general. When you have free time. Or when you're feeling sad.**

 **I recently began learning to draw, and now I'm even more aware of how these dragons look, so the descriptions might drag on a bit. Also, at some point I think I went insane and began quoting Lolita, which was odd.**

 **Seriously though, I need to get back to the inception of this story. Remember that? All those screaming A/Ns and fun plot stuff? Writing all this emotionally turbulent stuff is really draining.**

 **BTW don't forget to thank Blackberry Avar, cuz he helped me write one portion of this chapter.**

 **I guess I'll try and make a stupid funny chapter next time.**

 **yay**

 **This chapter also broke two records- longest chapter, and most time spent on a chapter. I know I once went three months without updating, but that was just me not writing at all. This is the result of like a month of constant edits. Also crying. Lots of crying.**

 **Give "Please Don't Go" by Joel Adams a listen, would ya? Along with "What About Us" by P!nk. And Holy by PVRIS, but that's only for those weird "page break sentences" I've left in. And don't forget that Sound Remedy remix of "Medicine" by Daughter.**

 **Let's begin.**

 **~This gon not be good~**

The sun rose over the three dragons, exhausted from the earthquake of emotion that had ravaged each one of them the night before, sleeping in a rather odd position.

They were piled on top of one another, wings spread and drooping. From a distance, they looked like the world's most misshapen layered cake.

Qibli was at the bottom of the pile, one talon grasping Moon's, another holding onto Winter's. He was sleeping on his back, so the sun was shining right in his face. All those years of living in the desert _had_ given him a pretty good endurance for sunlight, though, so he continued dozing.

Above him lay Winter, salt crusting around his eyes and in tracks down his face. In the morning light, though, he looked oddly serene- as if finally free from his troubles. His snout was pressed against Qibli's chest.

And on top lay Moon, who had been the last of the three to fall asleep. That was because she had suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, breathing hard, the last shreds of a horrific nightmare where she and Qibli had shown up just a few minutes too late to save Winter receding into the distance.

She had cried enough to last her a lifetime last night.

One of her talons was holding Qibli's, and the other was pressed against Winter's throat- just below his jaw, right where his pulse was strongest. The constant rhythm helped her sleep, and no doubt assured her that he was still alive.

Winter was the first to wake. Usually, he rose before the sunrise. Yesterday had taken a toll on him, though, so he had overslept.

He felt utterly exhausted. His limbs ached, his joints creaked as he flexed them, and the burns on his wrist still hurt like hell.

 _So, it wasn't a dream._

He had considered the possibility that his failed suicide attempt had been just a hallucination, or the result of a fever, or hell, even a vision given to him by the gods.

He just didn't want it to be real.

But of course, it was.

He didn't feel angry, or hurt, or ashamed, or any of those normal emotions.

He felt nothing.

And for some reason, he knew that that was much, much worse.

Opening his eyes, he came almost face to face with Qibli, who was laying on the ground below him, drooling out of the side of his mouth. He could feel a weight on his back, and deduced that it was probably Moon.

He couldn't very well move- he was trapped by the other two. And trapped in a very special way, as he soon realised- even if he tried to extract himself from the pile, the movement would cause both of them to wake up.

So, he was going to have to stay here.

And face the aftermath of his stupid, _stupid_ decision.

Not that he minded staying here much. The surroundings were nice and peaceful, and he felt comfortable. Maybe his mind considered being sandwiched between two dragons as more comfortable than lying alone in a cot in a small room, with nothing but his own thoughts to listen to, and feeling disgusted at himself, and scared that he was going _insane-_

"Winter?"

He opened his eyes again. "Moon?"

He felt her adjust her position on his back. "Good morning." She said, and her voice soothed him. Her talon retreated from just under his neck.

"You felt my pulse quicken?" he asked, impressed.

"Yup." She replied. Winter turned his head to see her other talon-

 _oh._

 _-_ intertwined with Qibli's.

As soon as she realised that he had seen it, she attempted to release it- but Qibli was holding on far too tightly. She tried to dislodge his talon, but Qibli simply grunted and pulled her closer to him. With a yelp, Moon was dragged off Winter's back and onto the ground.

The impact knocked the wind out of her, but it did result in Qibli releasing her hand. As she tried to regain her breath, Qibli groaned in frustration, and pulled Winter closer to himself. The Icewing didn't struggle- he had basically resigned himself to this.

But neither of them expected what came next. Sleepily opening his mouth, Qibli licked Winter's snout delicately, and then fell back into a deeper sleep.

And that was what made Winter feel perhaps the _first_ emotion he had felt since yesterday.

Confusion.

Moon slowly rolled over to look at him more clearly, trying hard to contain her laughter.

"Never knew you swung that way, Winter."

He couldn't help it- a snort escaped from his snout. For a second, he felt like laughing. Then, his sloth of a mind caught up with the situation at hand, and he realised something.

"You and Qibli, huh?"

Immediately, all levity disappeared.

Moon crossed her talons, looking down at the ground. "Yeah. Ummm….look, I'm sorry-"

"What would you have to be sorry for?" he adjusted his position in Qibli's death grip so he could face her better. If not for the cold emptiness in his heart, this would probably have been funny. "I had feelings for you. You didn't reciprocate them. Seems more like a 'me' problem."

"Nothing is just a 'you' problem, Winter." She responded, gently grasping his talon in hers. "We're your friends. You-you could've talked to us, told us how you felt…"

Winter squeezed his eyes shut. The throbbing in his head was getting worse.

 _They'll never understand._

"Winter… please." Moon shifted closer to him. "Please just… just talk to us."

 _They'll never understand._

"You won't understand." He whispered, already feeling tears welling up behind his eyes.

"Good god, Winter, then help us understand!" Moon brought his talon to her cheek, and held it there. "Don't push us away again."

He looked at her, eyes shining with tears. "I-I don't think I know how."

So they sat there, wishing for a world where everything didn't have to be this complicated.

"…take off the Starfire."

Winter's eyes dilated, and he gasped sharply. Suddenly, the thoughts were _back-_

 _Him and Moon relaxing under the stars, pressed up against one another, Moon pointing out the constellations…_

 _Moon trying to help him record observations with the Scavengers, and the both of them laughing and giggling and having fun…_

 _Moon comforting him as they got through the dark nights together, trying to help him overcome the thoughts inside his mind…_

The world snapped back into focus. His breathing quickened.

"No, no, please don't-" he begged, but Moon was already advancing towards his other talon.

"Moon, please-"

"Listen to yourself, Winter!"Moon moved closer to him. "You're scared of.. of me."

He choked back tears. "Moon, you don't want to hear the things I've been thinking, please-"

"Winter." She let go of his talons, and forced him to look into her eyes. "I. Don't. Care. I've been reading minds since I was a little kid- you don't know the half of the things I've heard."

She softened her grip.

"Please."

But he couldn't. And no matter what Moon whispered into his ear as he sobbed, trying to comfort him, he still hated himself for it.

And so, _fucking again,_ Winter found himself trying to stop crying. He closed his eyes, tried to think of happy things, tried to stick a talon into his arm… nothing helped.

And Moon was sobbing too, he could feel her chest heaving as she pressed herself against him. And it made him sick to the _core_ that he could do that to her.

 _You stupid, selfish, idiotic, worthless-_

He tried to squeeze his eyelids even more, as though that would stop his mind from reminding him of the truth.

And after a while, after they had both cried themselves out again, Qibli shifted, and his eyes opened.

"Good morning." He said cheerily. "Did I miss anything?"

 **~The entire theme of this chapter is just gonna be crippling depression~**

She was over.

Spent.

Finished.

But still, she kept flying.

If she didn't stop, she wouldn't have to face the reality.

She wouldn't have to consider the possibility that her father was _dead-_

"AAAARGH!"

A scream, so full of anguish and pain that it could cause hearts to cease their beating from miles away.

And a dragon, plummeting to the earth.

She hit the ground hard, on her rear talons. A crack echoed from her right hind leg, and immediately, even before it gave under her weight, she knew it was broken.

It hurt so, so badly.

But two things.

One; even on this day, she had experienced much, much worse.

Two; she couldn't give less of a fuck if she tried.

Everything came rushing back to her as she buried her face in her talons, sobbing.

All the blood, the slowing pulse, the… the _pain-_

It was over.

She was over.

Every single person she had ever opened up to- every single person she had trusted, every single person she had admired, adored- whatever.

Every single motherfucking person she had ever loved was dead.

And now, Smoulder was just another name on that list.

Onyx screamed again, right at the sky. It was as if she was asking the now-invisible stars to answer her prayers.

"WHY?" her throat was raw and parched, yet she couldn't stop herself. "WHY?"

And even as she tried to ignore the sand that was no doubt contaminating the wound on her left talon, and even as she thrust her snout into the ground and wept, and even as the space where her eye should've been filled with tears, she knew the answer.

It was because of her.

So, she picked up her wings, and took off, flying north.

There was nowhere she wanted to go.

Just one place she didn't.

So she flew.

 **~Ever listened to sad lofi while writing? It hurts, man~**

Qibli ran his talons across the Icewing's arms, over each tiny ridge and crevice, trying to avoid the freshest wounds. He had insisted on treating them, since he had watched the healers work their magic in the scorpion den, and knew all the best first aid methods.

Winter didn't try to stop him.

Moon sat off to the side, trying not to stare too long at the mangled scars. It was an understandable sentiment, reflected almost entirely by Qibli, who was trying to be as business-like as possible as he bandaged the Icewing up.

They blamed themselves. Obviously.

Even Winter could see that.

And he hated that he had that effect on them.

As the Sandwing finished up, and moved away, Moon spoke.

"Winter, please-"

"Don't."

Moon snapped her mouth shut, looking to the ground.

"C'mon, man, don't be like that." Qibli let go of the Icewing's arms, his work done.

Winter shrunk back, his ears flattening slightly against his skull. "I-I'm sorry-"

Qibli took his talon and held it tightly, avoiding the wounds. "Winter, we understand, okay? Just, don't lash out as us."

Winter closed his eyes, digging his other talon into the soft earth. The smell of lavender permeated his nostrils, and for some reason, he was reminded of that day, several months ago, that he had accused Moon of trying to kill his scavenger.

Oh, how much simpler life had been.

"I just don't want to talk about it."

Moon gasped in shock, which led to both the males turning to her.

She was staring at Winter, utterly shook.

"Winter, do- do you even understand the weight of what you tried to do?"

Casually, his hand wandered down to the scars on his arms. He felt their irregularity, and revelled in the pain as he pressed down on them.

It was all he had left.

"I understand," he began, struggling to keep his voice even, "I just don't want to talk about it."

Moon's eyes were wide open, and they never left him. Her talons shook as she struggled to calm her breathing.

"You- you don't think I want to _fucking_ pretend that didn't happen?" she asked. He felt Qibli recoil slightly- _of course, she's never this angry._

"You think I want to just pretend everything is hunky-dory, and that we didn't abandon you to fend for yourself?" she continued, running her talons along her jawline as some sort of nervous tic. Her eyes were still wide, and they became increasingly hazy.

"It did." she continued as the tears finally spilled over. "And I hate it, because I wasn't there for you when you needed it."

She wiped at her lashes delicately, somehow making even _that_ gesture look beautiful. "I'm not making the same mistake again. And I refuse to let _you_ make it either."

Once more, she raised her eyes to look at him.

"Talk about it."

Winter was almost unaffected by her outburst.

Almost.

Because somewhere deep down, he recognised that she had reacted this way entirely for him.

And deep down, he felt pride.

And he felt fucking sick of himself.

"No."

"Talk about it, Winter."

"It's not that simple, Moon!"

"Talk. About. It."

"Moon, you don't understand-"

Maybe it was the way he said her name. Maybe it was the patronising tone he'd used. Maybe it was the way he'd claimed she wouldn't understand, as though he were some petulant teenager sulking in a blacked-out room. Maybe it was the look on his face, maybe it was something hidden deep in the depths of his eyes. Maybe it was the way he'd moved his hands at that exact second, maybe it was the sudden change in lighting on account of the sun going behind a cloud.

Maybe it was just him. Nothing else, just him being himself.

Who knew.

But as he uttered those words; a flash of anger, regret and maddening, raging sorrow across her features; a darting pinprick of light reflecting off her scales as she moved towards him, snout twisted into a grimace, eyes inconsolable, and mouth open in a silent scream; a half-hearted defence from Qibli, who'd realised just a second too late what she planned to do; and then her claws were raking across his nose; and then a dull, painful stinging as he instinctively recoiled.

A soft gasp, as she came to her senses and realised what she'd done. Her chest rose and fell quickly, and her eyes were wet with tears. They dripped from her snout like his blood from her claws, bright blue in the sunlight.

She squeezed her eyes shut, as though willing herself out of the here and now. As if thinking hard enough would teleport her to some remote corner of the world, where she would never have to deal with _him-_

The pain set in suddenly, and he almost doubled over as he gasped. Qibli made to help him, but after just a second, he waved it off.

"No, it's fine." he said quietly, wiping away the blood and tears. And honestly, it was, once he'd gotten over the initial shock. Then, it just faded into the background level of pain he'd been feeling for the past month.

"I'm used to it."

It was true.

Moon's actions, his recoil, and Qibli's indecisive movements meant that, at that instant, they were exactly equidistant from one another. And it seemed as though something had broken between them- something deep, something irreplaceable.

None of them wanted to be any closer to the other.

Or any further apart.

And so, they sat there.

Together, yet so, so very alone.

 **~why the fuck am I doing this to myself~**

Qibli had just taken the time out to bandage up Winter's new wounds. Moon, who was sitting a small distance away, kept turning to try and catch his gaze, rather worried.

The Sandwing refused to make eye contact.

It appeared that all the tensions between them had finally bubbled over. Shame, really.

It didn't affect Winter, though.

Not much did.

"Winter, I'm sorry-" she began.

"Save it."

And then Winter felt his second emotion of the day- shock.

Both he and Moon looked to Qibli, who had just uttered those two words. His eyes were heavyset, no trace of that slight upwards quirk that usually graced the thin line of his mouth. He was gathering small bits of moss, which he then proceeded to roughly slap onto Winter's face.

"Qibli-" she tried again.

"Save. It." he snapped, turning to look at her out of the corner of his eye. Those black orbs, usually dancing mirthfully in the light, were now simply dark holes in his face.

But small things betrayed him… the downward crook of his lips near the front of his snout, the lightly twitching ear, the monosyllabic sentences, presented in the hopes that that neither dragon would notice how his voice wavered and cracked. And, of course, deep under the surface of those inky eyes, oceans of regret seethed and stormed.

 _The twilight of the world._ Winter considered, unsure where the words had sprung from.

He saw it all. And he recognised those tell-tale signs, like the slight petrichor odour in the air before the storm. He knew those techniques from those many, many days when he'd had to do the same in front of his family, afraid that if he showed any weakness, he would receive even harsher punishment.

Qibli was teetering on that same ledge that Winter had walked so many times.

And, of course, it was because of Winter that he was on that ledge in the first place.

 _Ah, irony._ The Icewing thought, inspecting the Sandwing more closely, knowing that if he paused to consider the situation from an empathetic standpoint, he would send them both over; careening and flailing, into the depths of despair.

 _You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style._

"What's gotten into y _ou_?" he asked nonchalantly, feeling those stupid fucking emotions begin to bubble and sizzle inside of him.

"Shut up." Qibli growled, staring down at his talons.

"…Qibli?" Moon asked, confused.

"Why?" Winter asked, aware that he was stoking the flames of an already raging fire, but finding himself unable to care. "Because she's right? Because I'm a fucking dangerous idiot?"

 _Ladies and gentlemen, look at this tangle of thorns._

"Stop blaming yourself for something we did wrong." Qibli lashed, turning to the Icewing. The anger in his voice was broken through only by small eddies of hurt.

And the second those words- those exact words, said in that exact tone- sunk in, Winter almost broke down. The sadness hit him like a tsunami; all the emotions he had tried to keep hidden suddenly thrashing and attempting to burst out of him like an alien entity.

"What you did was fair!" he managed to stammer, trying to will the wetness in his eyes to disappear.

"It wasn't." the Sandwing replied matter-of-factedly, digging his talons further into the soft earth.

Winter wiped away at a few stray tears. "No, it was. I was dangerous back then. Fuck, I still am. I'm responsible for the way I acted, and by extension, for your distrust of me. I understand."

"NO!"

Both Moon and Winter recoiled from Qibli, who had sprung up to his full height, teeth bared, ears flattened against the ridge of his skull. His eyes were slightly red, and as he made eye contact with Winter, his pupils narrowed. His claws dug into the ground, releasing the faintest smell of cut grass.

"You don't fucking understand!" he yelled, the tears now streaming down his face. " _We_ failed you! We're your friends, and we-"

He began listing off reasons, counting on his talons, "-didn't even check in on you for a month, didn't bother to consider what you were going through, didn't even _fucking_ care!"

Winter looked on, trying to hold back sobs. All those cold, clinical mannerisms of only a few moments ago… they'd abandoned him completely. All the bravado, all the rational thinking… just, gone.

 _Fuck me._

"We did everything wrong." the Sandwing continued. "We knew that you'd lost a parent, and didn't think twice about helping you through it. We knew you had a strained relationship with your family, and we didn't do shit. We knew you were hurting, and we didn't. Fucking. CARE!"

He accentuated each word with a punch to the ground, and then screamed- a sound that radiated pure pain.

"FUCK!"

He ran a talon across his face to remove the tears, but didn't close his eyes.

"We're responsible for this. Not you."

"Damnit, no!" Winter was close to crying now, struggling to keep his voice from breaking. "Qibli, Moon, my mind… these days, it's an animal. And I don't think I can control it around anybody. It's not your fault that I'm like this. Or that I've done the things that I've done. You- you can't trust me."

Moon turned to him, her eyes shining with tears- both of rage and sorrow. "Winter, none of those things were your fault. Besides, we _do_ trust you." She took his talons in hers, looking into his eyes. " _I_ trust you."

He looked at her.

Hard.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me what happened to Darkstalker."

And suddenly, all the fire in her eyes seemed to go out. Her eyes darted to the ground, and she opened her mouth- and hesitated.

And that was all he needed.

"There ya go." he said, turning back to Qibli.

"No, it's not that!" the Nightwing tried to salvage the situation desperately.

"Except it is!" he snapped, closing his eyes, trying to ignore the pain.

He turned his head away from them, the tears coming even faster now.

 _What's wrong with me?_

He'd anticipated this- hell, accepted the outcome even! He knew that they wouldn't trust him, regardless. So why did it hurt so much?

He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter, that they were right…

Another small, involuntary sob escaped from between his tight-pressed lips. A delicate talon touched his back.

"Winter, please…" Moon began, her voice calm and soothing. "…I don't want you to hurt-"

He snapped his head around, and looked her right in the eyes.

And Moon stared back.

And she saw the glimmers of some distant, unrealised dream in those hopelessly blue eyes.

They shone in the sunlight.

"Do you truly believe I would try to hurt another person?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"No." she choked out.

"Then why?"

She was already struggling to keep her composure. "Winter, can I be honest?"

The Icewing nodded through barely contained tears.

"I'm utterly terrified that you're going to hurt yourself."

Winter squeezed his eyes shut, gasping as though suddenly submerged in ice-cold water.

"Damnit, I already have. I just-" his voice broke there, "-I just need to know, OK?"

"Winter-"

He looked at them, eyes full of regret. "Please."

Moon turned away from him, tears shimmering like stars in her eyes. She hesitated, opened her mouth-

And then something neither of them expected.

"Fine!" Qibli got up and paced angrily. "Darkstalker was completely reformed- he had his memories erased, his powers removed, and he was changed back into a dragonet. His name is Peacemaker, and he lives a happy life in the rainforest."

He turned back to Winter, grabbing one of his talons. "The kid is the happiest thing I've seen in my entire life. He loves strawberriesl. Happy?"

There was silence. Moon looked shocked, and Winter… he couldn't tell what Winter thought. He looked…

"Qibli…" he began, "I…"

The Icewing choked out a few unintelligible syllables, turning his eyes to the side.

"What?" Qibli asked, suddenly abandoning all his rage for soft, delicate touches.

"You- _you don't know."_ The Icewing whispered, heart fracturing even as the words left his mouth.

Qibli looked into his eyes.

"Then _help me understand."_

Winter said nothing.

Just ran a wavering talon along the light blue ridges around his eyes.

And breathed.

After that point, he didn't even pause to think, or consider the implications of what would come next.

He just threw himself forward, into those arms that had no business being there, pressing his eyes into the cusp of the Sandwing's neck. And the tears began to flow, and his mind began to cloud with icy strands of despair, and his breathing quickened once more, and his talons dug so deeply into the other dragon's sides that they broke skin, and he-

 _shattered._

The raw emotions tore him apart, inside out.

And it hurt.

And he gasped for air, and tried not to choke on his own tongue, and hunched over, pressed against the Sandwing _(his father would never approve),_ and Moon looked on, just as destroyed as him, while somehow appearing even more radiant in the sunlight, and-

"stay."

Qibli whispered it like it was some sort of sacred symbol, like a fragile butterfly he had set aflutter atop the mountain winds. He whispered like the syllables were made of porcelain, like the soft, almost stuttering inflection he had put on the 's' would be lost in the storm of thoughts and feelings.

He said it like he was afraid Winter wouldn't listen.

Except Winter did.

The sounds the ex-prince made were raw and untamed, as though the wound that had caused all the pain were still open, gashed and weeping, never able to close. And somewhere inside beat a heart, a heart that had been ripped to shreds and pieced back together, only for it to be pulled into tiny strings that fluttered to the ground like so many ribbons of paper, taunting him to follow.

He _just wanted it to stop._

"Why won't it stop?" he howled, his grip on Qibli tightening. The Sandwing rocked back and forth with him, eyes misty, mouth contorted into pure misery. Soft sobs wracked his chest, lost in the chaos, almost invisible.

"FUCK!"

Winter gasped, tears streaming from his eyes. His throat hiccupped with sobs, and he couldn't stop them, no matter what he did.

So he turned to the constant in his life.

His rage.

And so he screamed, and he tore, and he slashed, and his talons clashed with the sodden earth, and through it all Qibli held him.

He didn't try to stop the Icewing- all he did was keep a talon on his, or intertwine their tails, or, when he was slightly calmer, take him in his arms. From off to the side, Moon watched, eyes shining with tears- so close, yet far enough that she could be on another planet.

Winter looked back at her, and the images clouded his mind, and suddenly he was screaming again.

And through the entire thing, just one question.

 _why?_

He emerged from his episode having mauled a small patch of grass, along with having left a small cut along Qibli's elbow.

His vision came back to him slowly, and, for perhaps the first time in his life, he found himself at a loss for words.

What was there to be said?

"I-I'm sorry…"

His voice wavered, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to staunch the flow of tears. He succeeded partially, and opened them again to find Moon, moving towards him.

"winter…"

There was no cut-off. There was no end to that statement, if it could even be considered one. It was… it was more an emotion. It was an expression of a feeling from somewhere deep down, and the look on her face reflected that sentiment perfectly.

He straightened, sniffling loudly. Slowly, tentatively, a talon touched his. On instinct, he turned to find Qibli, worried.

The sun was directly behind the Sandwing, making him look… ethereal. There was no other word for it. Black eyes glinting, sandy scales wonderfully contrasted with the surrounding foliage, features so incredibly expressive.

No matter what Qibli was thinking, Winter could always tell exactly what he felt. He'd always found it odd, how somebody could keep their emotions on display constantly.

And now, he'd done essentially the same thing.

And with that, Winter realised something.

Both he and Qibli wore their hearts on their sleeve. Qibli just wore it better.

He attempted to speak, but Moon beat him to it.

"Look, what-" she paused to let a small sob escape, but then continued.

 _Strong._

 _Determined._

 _Amazing._

"-what's done is done. Everything we did wrong, everything you did wrong… right now, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we get you better, OK?"

Winter nodded through his tears.

"So, give me that Starfire."

He sighed, deliberating the choice internally.

And then, before he hesitated and changed his mind, he unclenched his hand, and let the pouch fall to the ground.

 **~please~**

"Remember the stars?"

A pause.

"How could I forget?"

"I don't know. Kinda seems like you've forgotten a lot of yourself over the past few days."

Onyx lay on her back, staring up at the canopy of lights over the desert. Lying next to her was her mother, flicking away tiny clumps of wet sand.

"You aren't the same, Onyx."

She turned to the younger Sandwing, and touched her talon.

"You've changed. A lot."

Onyx forced a smile. "A lot has happened in the… what, ten years since you died?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know."

The smile disappeared. "Twelve days, eleven months, and nine years. Happy?"

Palm tried to grasp her talon more tightly, but she slapped it away. "Don't."

 _why_

The voice didn't come from a singular place- instead, it emanated from their surroundings, shaking the ground and making the sky fragment in odd places.

Stars fell like ashes to the ground.

"why?" her mother whispered, the world cracking around her. "why are you afraid to love?"

"Gee, I don't fucking know," Onyx retorted, "maybe because every person I've ever shown love to has died?"

"Onyx-"

"Because of me?"

"Onyx, you can't possibly blame yourself for them-"

"I'm the only common factor, Mom!" she raged, trying to ignore the tears building up behind her eyes.

"Let it go, Onyx. Let it all go."

"YEAH, EASY FOR YOU TO FUCKING SAY!"

She faced her mother, who was tracing the outline of a dragon using her talon in the sand, head on.

"You never had to deal with this bullshit! With living on the street, with wishing that your mother never died and left you to _rot,_ with having to act like you didn't care about her, my fucking GOD!"

Onyx clawed at her arms, and the blood they let loose calmed her. The rivers of red improved her focus considerably.

"Do you even know what that was like?" she asked, tears streaming down her face. "Convincing everybody… fuck, convincing _myself_ that I loved the thing that killed you? Trying to forget the weeks I spent mourning you? All that time I spent imagining a world in which you were still there?"

Her voice faded to a whisper by the end of the sentence, and she wiped at her eyes. Her mother just smiled at her, saying nothing.

"It's ironic, now that I think about it." Onyx continued, scratching away at her wound. The pain helped. "I've lost both of my parents now. And- and nothing fucking happened to them when I acted like a little bitch! It was only when I began loving again-"

She stopped, and broke down.

It was embarrassing. Just, at the drop of a hat, she remembered what she had felt for Smoulder, and his fucking body just lying there, _dead-_

A small sob broke free from her throat, like a bird from a cage.

And she let herself weep.

Her mother did not approach her to comfort her, instead choosing to watch from a distance.

Of course.

She had no right.

Eventually, after Onyx had calmed down a bit, the older woman spoke.

"You will lose yourself."

Her voice became more ethereal the more she spoke.

"And you _must promise me this."_

The tears blurred Onyx's vision, and all she could see was the dim outline of a white figure, rising into the air.

 _Promise me that you'll find yourself._

The figure spread its wings, and grew brighter.

 _That you'll let yourself love._

It was almost blinding now, but Onyx didn't close her eye.

 _That you'll let yourself be loved._

A hot, arid wind started blowing, and the sand bit into her wounds, causing them to sting painfully.

 _Promise me._

She choked. "I- I promise."

And then there was nothing.

And everything at once-

 **~sad~**

The thoughts hit Moon like a boulder falling from great heights. Their intensity, their vividness, their… very essence, drenched in emotion and such desperate need that the entire experience felt saturated, like looking at something through wet cloth, stretched tight over eyes that were somehow wide shut, yet also all-seeing.

A few of them were standard fare- daydreams, fantasies, imagining both him and her together in various positions and stages of their relationships.

Maybe if everything that had happened over the past two days _hadn't_ happened, she would've revelled in the feeling of being so revered.

Maybe that small portion of her that she was as ashamed of as Winter was of his thoughts about her would've giggled slightly, snarkily commenting that the Icewing _had it bad._

As it was, Moon let her mind calm. Winter, predictably, was trying to keep certain thoughts from surfacing- and doing a remarkably good job, actually. His mind was currently a frenzied sea, and only tiny breaks in the waves let her catch glimpses of what lay underneath.

"Is- is it working?" Qibli asked tentatively, voice trembling. His talons clicked together, a small nervous tic of his.

He had the liberty of keeping his emotions on display right now. She couldn't- for Winter's sake. If she broke down again, especially while reading his thoughts…

"Qibli, take off your Starfire too."

He barely hesitated, taking the pouch and tossing it over his shoulder. The thoughts running through his mind were primarily those of guilt; about what they had ended up doing to Winter, how he hadn't been there for his friend… that sort of thing.

And though everything he thought was weighted down and soaked through with pure emotion, it didn't affect her that much.

Because she was thinking the exact same fucking thing.

Winter slowly lowered himself to the ground, burying his face into his arms.

 _Fuck, why couldn't taking off the Starfire have been that easy for me?_

 _Because I'm stupid._

 _Fuck me._

 _I'm terrible._

 _I'm useless._

 _I'm making things worse for them._

 _I-_

"Winter, stop." Qibli said suddenly, stepping forward slightly, and trying to keep his voice steady. The Sandwing's mind was just as turbulent, if not more, than Winter's, but he kept it together. Either that, or he was much better at faking how he truly felt than Moon realised. "You're not making things worse."

The Icewing looked up, the light blue scales around his eyes illuminated in the light.

"How-" he began, but Qibli interrupted him before he could finish.

"I don't need to read minds to know what you're thinking. In the state that you're in, you're an open book."

Just to complete the effect, the Sandwing broke into a smile. And she did mean break- it was as though a tiny crack of light had emerged through miles of pure obsidian. And though it was obviously forced, and his talons still shook and his eyes still dripped and his lip still quivered, it was-

It was enough.

Winter groaned slightly, trying to cover up his sobs. "Sappy much?" he snapped lightly, the effect undermined greatly by his shaking voice.

Moon sighed in relief.

 _Snark. Snark is better than pain. Remember that._

The Sandwing closed his eyes for just a second, and exhaled deeply.

"Come here."

He staggered over to the Icewing, flopping onto the ground next to him. As he extended his right wing over those white-blue ridges and put his talons around the Icewing's neck, pressing his snout into the cool scales, Moon turned her attention back to Winter's mind.

It was genuinely like an iceberg, she realised. No matter how tiny it may seem, there was _so much_ more below the surface. His mind was going a million miles an hour, and some of the thoughts he was trying to hide were surfacing. And, as she expected, some of those thoughts were becoming more and more scandalous.

Still, she considered as they continued flowing, almost entirely unbidden, they weren't all that bad. She'd had to deal with a lot worse. Besides, she suspected that this wasn't what he was _actually_ ashamed of.

"Winter, I can't help you if you continue to hide everything."

He looked up at her, dark blue eyes unnaturally full of rage.

"Hide… everything?" he growled. Qibli quickly grabbed the Icewing's talon, stroking the flexible spikes along his spine. It calmed him, and suddenly those oceans turned fearful, pupils darting across them as if lashing out at some unknown opponent.

"I-I'm sorry…" he stuttered, voice catching on the lump in his throat.

And suddenly, she was swept away by a tidal wave of thoughts.

 _They were back at Jade Mountain._

 _Except thing were different this time._

 _There was much less fighting and arguing and mistrust. Instead, Winter was an adorkable doofus, and Moon was the goddess he fell for._

 _He'd slip her notes, talk to her late into the night…_

 _He'd tell Qibli about his feelings for her, and Qibli would be nothing but supportive, because_ he _wasn't in love with her, no, it was only the Icewing, and he'd give Winter advice that he'd take the wrong way, and shenanigans would ensue…_

 _And of_ course _Moon knew; she was the smartest dragon in Pyrrhia, but she preferred to see him understand what to do on his own. And she gave him small clues, and eventually, after many goof-ups, Qibli gave it to him straight- the best way to confess his affection was to just tell her._

 _So, one fateful night, after a tiny argument, he did just that._

 _Turned right to her, taking in those scales, those eyes, that beautiful smile, that wonderful mind, and he said it._

" _I think I'm in love with you."_

 _And Qibli had gasped in shock, but not because_ he _was infatuated with Moon too, no, just because he'd never imagined Winter growing the balls to finally tell Moon he loved her. And Moon smiled, and she said she thought she loved him too, and all he remembered was the_ joy _-_

She spun on her heels. The thoughts circled her like she was the eye of a tornado- so many images, and scenarios, and _feelings-_

 _They were strolling through the halls of Jade Academy, trying not to trip over each other's tails, utterly giddy, and almost madly infatuated with one another._

 _They were waltzing through their lives, hoping against hope that everything would turn out fine. And, of course, wasn't that the very definition of romantic love?_

 _They were helping each other along, trying to keep their feet on the ground…_

 _They were growing up, always together, never apart…_

 _They had dragonets._

That one made her snap out of it for just a split second, before she was dragged under once more. She'd… never given any heed to the idea of having dragonets. She'd never even considered what it would be like….

 _Every single one of them was utterly beautiful, playing in the soft grass, giggling and laughing. And both Moon and Winter loved them, and they were all happy together. Sure, sometimes times were rough, and sometimes it got tense, but they pulled through._

 _And they taught those tiny bundles of joy everything they knew. Moon taught them about the stars, and about scrolls, and about life. She taught them how to swim, and how to read, and how to fly, and how to talk to other dragons, and how to hunt. Winter taught them…_

She gasped lightly.

… _he taught them about learning from his mistakes. He taught them that it was fine to cry. He taught them how to love, and how to be loved, and how to play with others._

 _He taught them to see beauty where others couldn't. He taught them never to judge others, to always be kind…_

 _He taught them everything that his parents had never taught him._

 _And he gave them everything that his parents had never given him._

 _He gave them love, he gave them appreciation…_

 _He gave them his heart._

 _And he gave them so, so much life._

 _And as they grew from dragonets into full grown dragons, he and Moon grew old together, content._

 _And one day he closed his eyes, knowing that everything he'd ever wanted he had given others. And he was happy._

 _Nothing else._

 _Just… happy._

A sob.

She opened her eyes to find that they were wet with tiny droplets that shimmered in the sunlight, creating rainbow halos around her world.

And she blinked them away to find Winter, looking right at her with the same rainbows dancing across his sapphire eyes. Hard as gemstones, yet somehow soft, with sadness, despair, and the fear of rejection embedded in them. But also… some amount of resignation, and a bit of defiance.

He had done it.

He no longer had anything to hide.

And, feeling the water building up behind her eyes, she had to stutter out one final question.

No, it wasn't a question.

A statement.

"I'm everything to you, aren't I."

His reaction, turning his face to the earth, silent tears watering the ground, was answer enough.

And she cried out, and wiped at her eyes as she held him, _and-_

and nothing.

Because what else was there to be said?

 **~I am nothing~**

Nothing.

Except maybe a light, icy blue chill, cutting deep into her scales.

Ice blue streaks flowed across an ice blue sky, which blended almost seamlessly into an ice-blue horizon, only visible after endless ice-blue plains.

It was an incredible sight.

And a moment of clarity, out of entire days of utter, pure madness.

She had lost it.

She was certain of it.

And she didn't know what to do.

She screamed.

For she was completely alone.

 **~i am alone~**

It had been at least a few hours since Moon had sifted through Winter's thoughts, and she wasn't sure she'd processed it all.

To tell the truth, she wasn't sure she was ever going to be able to process it.

So she decided to set it aside. She'd confront that problem later. For now, she had to focus on Winter.

They were, once more, piled up next to each other, like a very exotic sandwich, watching the sun creep ever closer to the horizon.

Winter was sitting next to Qibli, who was sitting next to her. And though she was sure the Sandwing's cuddling was helping the Icewing, it was time to try something new.

"You know what, I'm gonna tell you a story." Moon said, trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes, lungs and heart.

Winter was still essentially trapped between both her and Qibli, but he perked his ears up, making it clear that he was listening.

"One late night," she began, "out in the middle of the desert, I made the mistake of turning to Qibli here and asking him if he believed in ghosts."

One of Winter's eyebrows perked up involuntarily. "Ghosts?"

"Yup. And guess what he said?"

Winter looked uncertain. "Ummm, ghosts aren't real?"

"Nope. He told me he did. And then he told me a ghost story."

Winter looked at her, hard, obviously confused as to what this story had to do with anything.

"We were out in the centre of the desert. Nobody around for miles. Cloudy night, full moon. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"…no?"

"We stayed up for the entire night, afraid that some apparition of sand worms would suddenly rise out of the sand and eat us whole."

Winter nodded sagely, trying to act as though he understood. Qibli rose up slightly, moving to Moon's other side. She took his place next to Winter, shoving him lightly.

"When the sun came out, we realised we'd been absolute idiots." she said, taking in the sunset. "But that entire night, we… we were just scared. No matter how irrational it was. Get me now?"

The Icewing sighed softly. Now Qibli spoke, in soft tones.

" _All_ our minds are animals, dude. How they act depends on what you feed them."

She clasped his talon. "Are you going to fuel them with rage, or sadness, or… thoughts of me?"

The dragon seemed to shrink back, and she instinctively moved close to his form to close the gap.

"Come on, dude." Qibli mumbled. "I get how you're feeling."

"I don't think you do." Winter grumbled.

"Oh really?" Moon asked, suddenly very confident. "The very act of thinking about me being there for you… it's therapeutic, is it not?"

A pause.

"Is it not?"

" _It's medicine."_

He whispered it, lightly, as though hoping she wouldn't hear.

When it became clear that she had, and that she was waiting for him to elaborate, he sighed, closing his eyes.

"I… I always just used you as medicine. Like… no matter what manner of _terrible thing_ I did, you'd always know my true intent, and you'd… help me. No matter what."

"But, weren't you terrified of her reading your thoughts?" Qibli piped up, albeit quite delicately.

Winter's mouth quirked up slightly.

 _Fallacies in my logic._

 _Now_ that _I can explain._

"Wasn't thinking straight, Qibli." he said. "I haven't been for… quite some time."

The conversation lulled for a moment before Winter, slightly emboldened by Moon's neutral reaction to his statement, continued.

"…I just kept projecting someone else onto you. Like, somebody who would always understand me perfectly. Because, honestly, _you_ seemed like you understood me perfectly."

She cracked a small smile. "Honestly, I was just a bumbling fool who somehow, apparently, helped you."

He smiled back, but it was obviously forced.

"Yeah, so… I kept thinking that you understood me. And then I grew infatuated with the feeling of being understood, and then by extension… you. Then, when I finally came here, that infatuation became… an obsession."

He paused, and both Moon and Qibli instinctively stroked his spine. He snorted, but relaxed a bit too.

"And when I recognised that it was an obsession, I began distancing the Moon in real life from the Moon in my dreams and thoughts. So, I believed that the real-life Moon didn't understand me, that she hated me… you know, stuff like that."

A pause.

"Did you recognise all of this _while_ it was happening?" Moon asked him.

"Of _course_ I did." he responded in a tone that suggested snark, but missed his usual bite. Instead, the words were soft, almost delicate.

Qibli spoke, and even though Winter's eyes were closed, he could almost hear the smile through the Sandwing's words.

"And you say that you're not smart."

He smiled too, but it was sad and bitter.

"Smart enough to recognise every single thing wrong with me. But dumb enough to not do anything about it."

They were silent for a while, watching the sun set.

" _sorry."_ he whispered.

"What?" Moon asked.

"I- I'm sorry. For… everything. Everything I thought about you, everything I put both of you through… I'm just sorry."

Qibli straightened slightly. "Winter, you know that you can't blame yourself for this."

But the Icewing's thoughts didn't change. It was clear that simply claiming that he couldn't blame himself wasn't working anymore.

So, she decided to try something different.

She gave him the truth.

"We all have our fantasies."

She breathed.

"We think about scenarios. Things that'll probably never happen. We believe that one day, we'll go on a massive adventure, and that we'll save the world, and we'll find the one true love of our lives, and we'll finally be happy."

Winter's eyes remained shut, but his ears perked up a bit.

"You know, you'll save people on this adventure! A continent, a tribe, a mountain…"

Qibli smiled slightly.

"Maybe it's just one person you end up saving from impending doom, or from undefeatable evil…

"…or from themselves."

Winter shifted involuntarily, as though a cold shiver had just run down his spine.

"Nobody talks about it…"

Both males were listening to her intently, though Qibli's pupils remained on the distant horizon, and Winter's were shut, as he attempted to retreat into his own mind.

"…but it's alright if the one person you save is yourself."

Qibli took her talon in his, and after just a moment of hesitation, Winter took the other. He opened his eyes, making sure to keep his gaze planted firmly on a small mountain, far in the distance.

The evening light cast shadows across his face, making it look hooded and dark. But as he noticed her staring at him, he lifted his snout slightly, so as to see her better. The shadows shifted, and suddenly he was completely illuminated, blue-white scales almost too bright to look at. His eyes were oceans, shifting in the afterglow. And they turned to her, brows perked up at the edge, lips slightly parted, as through lost, looking for guidance.

And, seeing her worried expression, he forced a small grin. Obviously, he meant for it to be his usual arrogant smirk. But given the way he looked in the light, it transformed him into…

…into the epitome of joy.

And in that moment, she knew that whatever challenges faced them, whatever lay ahead… they would be fine.

 _They would be fine._

She choked on the feeling, the sudden sense of utter relief, the burden that had abruptly lifted from her chest; one she hadn't even known was there.

"Moon?" both Winter and Qibli asked at the same time, and she couldn't help but break into a grin, chucking.

"We'll be fine." she said, closing her eyes to revel in the feeling.

Suddenly, she was overcome with a feeling of euphoria. Jumping to her feet, ignoring the worried looks her companions were giving her, she shouted from the heights, announcing it to the world.

"WE'LL BE FINE!"

The sound echoed through the mountains, and for a second the euphoria faded, and Moon felt embarrassed. Then Qibli leaped up next to her.

"THAT'S RIGHT, WORLD!" he screamed. "WE'RE GOING TO BE FINE!"

Winter looked at both of them as though they were insane, and then struggled to lift himself onto his feet. Before Moon and Qibli could help him, he managed to stand, though his knees wobbled, and his muscles strained. He spread his wings, and the proud, dignified, noble prince of the Icewings shouted, from the top of a mountain in the Sky Kingdom-

"TAKE THAT, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!"

And even before the echo had faded they were back on the ground, giggling and laughing and clutching at their sides, shaking to the point where none of them could speak.

And things seemed…

Better.

So, _so_ much fucking better.

"I mean, to be fair," Qibli managed between wheezes, "the world is pretty shitty towards us."

Winter smiled lightly, turning to look at the Sandwing. "Like giving Moon mind reading powers so she had constant headaches?"

"Worse." he responded almost immediately.

"Like giving you a crappy mom and grandfather?"

"Worse."

"Like-"

"I'm gonna stop beating around the bush and tell you." Qibli grinned, unable to keep it inside anymore. "Gather 'round!"

So, Winter pulled himself closer to the Sandwing, as did Moon.

And now, a brief deviation to talk about the wild.

Maybe it's just something about being utterly alone with your friends. Far, far away from all your responsibilities, from your life. Just, sitting on the soft grass, the sun setting, singular stars twinkling into life overhead. Just the comradery of that moment, the feeling of being alone together…

It's enough to make anybody feel free.

Because you just feel as though you're untouchable. As though you never have to return to that same life ever again, as though all those problems that plagued you were never there to begin with. And sure, one day you'll have to go back, and all those things you thought you were finally above will come rushing back, and maybe they'll knock you down.

And maybe you wish that you never felt that way again. Just to avoid the aftermath.

But when you're there, in that moment right then…

It feels worth it.

"So," Qibli began, massive grin on his face. "Imagine you're camping out in the open with your girlfriend-"

"Rubbing it in much?"

Ordinarily, Moon would be worried. But it was clear from both the tone and the expression on Winter's face that he was jesting.

Qibli's smile widened. "A joke from the Icewing prince?"

Winter didn't even bother to correct him about the 'prince' statement. "Indeed, _and_ there's more where that came from!"

The Sandwing laughed- a full-on belly laugh, too- and continued.

"You're camped with your girlfriend, and, well, you're sleeping peacefully. Unbeknownst to you, though, she's awake. And she becomes a bit too curious, and she…"

He leaned in. "… _makes a mistake."_ he whispered conspiratorially.

"Wait," Moon interrupted. "Is this what I think it's about?"

He giggled. "Yup."

Winter looked on in confusion as Moon turned very red. "Wait, what's going on?"

"Let me finish!" Qibli said, almost weeping with barely contained laughter. "She notices that you're moving around a lot in your sleep, right?"

Winter nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"So, delicately, she removes your Starfire. And…"

"And?" Winter asked, very aware of Moon looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"And the dream you're _having_ is…."

He hung on the Sandwing's drawn-out inflection.

"…her and one of your female friends fornicating."

Winter snorted loudly, incredulously, as Moon buried her face in her hands.

"Urrghhhhh, I never should've told you!" she groaned. But underneath, she was still smiling.

"Wha- seriously?" Winter stuttered. "Who was the female friend?"

" _kinkajou."_ Moon whispered, refusing to make eye contact. That just made Qibli laugh harder.

"Wait- what?- how…" Winter was confused, but so swept up in the moment that he found himself laughing too. Qibli paused his chuckles for a second to respond.

"The world's a shitty place, young Icewing" The Sandwing said in a faux-distinguished voice, twirling an imaginary moustache. "Sometimes, you just have to accept that you'll witness your boyfriend's weird wet dreams."

And with that, Qibli collapsed into peals of laughter. Almost immediately, Winter joined in too. Moon just shook her head, the grin still plastered onto her face.

They were so damn immature.

"You know that that isn't even the best part, right?" she asked Winter.

He goggled back at her, failing to contain his shock. "How does it get better than that?"

"Oh, I don't remember exactly." she smiled deviously. "Maybe it gets better when _both_ you and Turtle join in!"

Despite himself, Winter burst into a flurry of giggles.

"No!" he managed to gasp, and Moon smiled- a smile that melted his heart, and caused his mind to shatter into a million iridescent pieces.

And Qibli laughed too, and suddenly it was _just_ like the old days, when they hadn't had all these complicated feelings to deal with, and they didn't have all those pesky emotions swirling inside them like paint on a canvas.

And that spark of joy ignited, and suddenly, for just a second, Winter felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.

Hope.

Almost as soon as he realised this, he choked and stopped.

Qibli noticed immediately. "Hey, what happened?"

As his eyes blurred with tears, the Sandwing hugged him tightly.

"C'mon, it's OK, you're fine…"

Winter sobbed, unable to form words.

 _You stupid, pathetic-_

Moon kissed him.

Right on the cheek.

And then she fell into his arms too.

And suddenly, it was like last night- except it wasn't.

And Winter wasn't happy- but he was.

And something had changed- except it had always been this way.

And the sun, so close to touching the horizon, blazed just a little bit brighter.

 **~nobody tries to save me~**

All the thoughts in their minds were completely clear to her.

And, for maybe the first time in her life, Moon was grateful for her ability.

Because sitting there, each one of them wrapped around the other like some sort of exquisite laurel or wreath, she could feel a certain change within Winter.

Something was different now.

Something massive had changed.

But honestly, she wasn't complaining.

 _God, she looks so beautiful._ Winter and Qibli thought simultaneously.

She smiled, looking up at maybe the two most important dragons in her life.

For the first time in days, each one of them had a smile on their faces.

"We'll never be the same again, will we?" Winter asked, delicately cupping the side of her face. Qibli pressed his snout into the Icewing's neck.

"No. We'll be so, _so_ much better than we ever were."

He grasped the Icewing's talon. "And guess what? You'll be happier. Damnit, Winter, can you even deny that, right now, you aren't happier than you were just days ago?"

 _A bit._

"A bit."

Qibli smiled, almost blindingly happy. "That's enough for now."

He hugged him even tighter, and somewhere inside Winter's mind, that spark ignited again.

"Winter," she began, "I know that it's going to take a long time to heal."

 _Quite the understatement._ The Icewing thought very deliberately, clearly indicating that he was talking to her mentally.

"It is!" she laughed, almost giddy with the feeling of comfort and trust. "And I know that we've done- we've done a lot of things wrong."

Winter almost visibly dimmed, and both Moon and Qibli instinctively hugged him tighter.

"ok, now I can't breathe-" he squeaked out, and they let up a bit.

The sun had already set- only the aurora remained. And they watched as it faded, paving the way for the night.

Moon held him tightly, smiling. "But we will do whatever- understand what I say here- _whatever_ it takes to help you. Got that?"

Winter smiled.

Above them, the stars finally flared into life.

 **~I don't deserve to be saved~**

It had taken Snowfall and Neptune almost an entire day to fly back to the Ice Kingdom.

That may not sound like much, except that was about twenty hours more than it normally took.

There had been several problems; for one, they had no supplies, so they had to stop and hunt, and then there had been a massive snowstorm that stopped them from reaching the ice wall before nightfall, so they'd had to make camp in a small cave.

At dawn, they'd extracted themselves, broken the icicles off their snouts, and continued.

Eventually, after almost a quarter of a day of flying, they arrived.

Exhausted, the two of them had decided to rest for a short time at the ice wall. There was already a battalion of guards situated there, and they reasoned that they could probably get a briefing from them too.

And that decision…

It had made all the difference.

Snowfall landed on top of the wall, her claws digging into the ice to stop her. Neptune was significantly less dignified, as he simply let his legs give way, and slid to a halt about halfway across the flat top of the wall.

She extracted her talons from the ice, and walked over to where he was panting. "Still don't need rest?"

They had deliberated, as they were making camp, if they should wait out the storm, or simply sleep. Neptune had decided to stay awake while Snowfall slept, to monitor any dangers. Snowfall had reluctantly agreed, but had asked him nicely to wake her up so that she could set watch while he rested too.

However, he hadn't woken her up. When she had reprimanded him, he had simply told her that he 'didn't need rest.'

He wheezed. "Fine, you were right."

She grinned, but then stopped, ears perking.

"What's all that commotion?" she asked, as he peeled himself off the floor.

There was a lot of noise coming from the other end of the wall, where it looked as though a couple of guards were struggling with something.

She and Neptune locked eyes, and nodded an unspoken agreement.

Extending their wings, they flew towards the guards. "Hey!" she screamed.

As the guards noticed them, they disbanded, revealing-

A Sandwing.

Lying on the ground.

Out here in the Ice Kingdom.

Neptune landed before her. "What's going on here?" he asked as he skidded to a halt.

An old guardsman walked up to them. "Found this girl out in the tundra. Apparently, she flew here all the way from the Sand Kingdom."

"How in the-" she began, but he cut her off.

"Pardon, milady, but she needs urgent medical assistance."

"What?"

But then the Sandwing came into focus, and her vision tunnelled.

She was almost beautiful. Incredibly tall and muscular, with black lines running along her yellow scales. But there was blood… everywhere.

It ran in rivulets along her body. Her torso and limbs were sliced up to hell and back, and as she turned towards the pair, Snowfall realised the true extent of the damage.

One of her eyes was missing, her snout was a mess of torn flesh and broken scales, and one of her talons had no claws on it. One of her hind legs had scar tissue all over it, and she looked like she was somewhere between burnt and frozen.

As Snowfall moved closer to the Sandwing, the girl opened her eye, groaning quietly.

The Ice Queen looked right into it.

It shimmered like an oasis of emotion, swirling and streaming as red streaks emanated outwards from her pupil. Tears ran down it, but there was no emotion left in there.

No semblance of a soul.

"…who are you?" she asked.

The singular eye focused in on her.

"Onyx."

And then it closed again.

 **A/N: Love, Love, Love by Of Monsters and Men. Makes it more cinematic.**


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 _Imp: Just began a new story- it's called Butterflies, and it's a Darkstalker AU! Only the prologue is up now, but the rest will be coming soon!_

 **A/N: 100k words! Finally!**

 **Got literally nothing better to do, so for the entire day, I just write. Yay!**

 **Let's go back in time…**

 **Back to when I was still capable of feeling happiness; around this time last year!**

 **Yes, the one-year anniversary of this story is coming up soon, and we're anywhere from 1/3rd to 1/5th of the way through! Yay!**

 **It also means good news for one person in particular…**

 **JaguarTheRavenclawRainWing, who submitted an OC almost a year back. Why am I bringing this up now?**

 **….**

 **Because his introduction is still pretty far away.**

 **Yeah, I know, I've used every single other OC, but not to worry- JaguarTheRavenclawRainWing's OC has not been forgotten. He will be introduced, sometime in the future.**

 **Just wanted to keep spirits up.**

 **Regardless, remember when I said I wanted to get back to nice, fun chapters? I tried to do that with this one! Still has lots of crying, but hey, you win some, you lose some.**

 **Also, have you guys ever gone back to read some old fanfiction and suddenly realise how many things about certain books you don't remember?**

 **Regardless. Let's begin.**

 **~guess who it is?~**

Pluto was in utter agony.

Some days, the voices were bearable.

Some days, they faded into the background, and he could just ignore all the bullshit they had to say.

Some days, he could almost forget that they existed.

This was not one of those days.

 _Tell Tsunami!_

 _No, tell Sunny!_

 _No, tell Pike!_

 _No, don't tell anybody!_

 _No, tell_ everybody!

They scampered around his head, trying to convince him to take action.

Too bad that he was used to it.

He wasn't going to fall for them again.

As he lay in his bunk, tired and irritable, he recognised that there was absolutely no way that he would be able to sleep. So, he decided to get up, and walk around the cave.

And what a mistake that had been.

First, he had ended up hitting his head on the ledge again. Then he had completely forgotten that those two other dragons had moved into the cave, so as he reeled from the blow, he had almost stepped on Firestorm's face.

Flailing to avoid causing a disaster, he fell to the ground, spraining his wrist as he impacted the stone.

He groaned under his breath, not wanting to wake the others.

"Did you just fall from your bunk?" asked Tamarin, her eyes still closed.

He looked up at her, debating whether to lie or not.

"Yes."

"Shame. You hurt?"

"Not much. I thought you were asleep."

"I'm good at faking it."

And so began what had to be one of the most boring days of his life.

First, they went to the newly constructed music cave, and watched Blue serenade Green with a song he only called "Untitled." He couldn't deny it- the guy had pipes. And he was somehow able to play three instruments at once, which was… interesting.

 _Kill him._ A voice screamed.

He ignored it.

Then they spent some time in the history cave, where Webs was absolutely ecstatic about the discovery of the lost continent.

"Oh my, what I wouldn't give to _talk_ to some of those dragons right now…" he lamented.

Blue and Green exchanged a worried glance. Pluto noticed, but said nothing, filing the information away for later. At this rate, he would have a pretty substantial amount of evidence against them in only a few weeks.

Not that he was planning to act on it.

He knew what it was like to have skeletons in his closet.

Literally.

 _Kill them all._ Another voice yowled.

He ignored it, but made sure to subtly bash his head against the wall as they were leaving the cave. That shut the voices up for a split second.

Then they had had a session in the friendship cavern, most of which had just been the four of them looking on awkwardly as Brook and Firestorm tried to prove the other less friendly.

The voices hadn't even needed to butt in to make the entire thing unbearable.

Then lunch, which he had spent standing next to Tamarin, who was chatting with Anemone. The two were actually pretty good for each other- Pluto had often joined in on their discussions, and had found that the Seawing was pretty open about her many failings- and was willing to talk about them, and try to improve herself. It was always really inspirational.

Plus, it was interesting to see the normally stoic Rainwing get flustered at Anemone's suggestive comments.

Then it was a quick dash to Clay's classes- which were always incredibly fun. Though the Mudwing had an official syllabus, he never stuck to it, and pretty much just talked about whatever came to mind.

Today, apparently, he was talking about ghost stories.

"So, there's a certain art to telling a good ghost story." he whispered, casting a talon out, the claws extended in all directions. The windows in the room had been covered, and he was leaning over one of the desks, making his voice sound raspier.

 _He looks and sounds stupid._ One of the voices in his head muttered.

Pluto had to agree. Still, he could respect the lengths Clay was going simply for aesthetic- even going so far as to stick a flaming torch under his face to cast scary shadows. Granted, there was quite a bit of choking involved, but nevertheless, the Mudwing persevered.

"You need the perfect lighting, the perfect mood, and the perfect voice, along with a story."

He leaned in close. "Wanna know a secret? The story itself doesn't actually matter that much."

"Wait," Brook blurted out. "how does that work?"

She had her arms crossed, and was obviously very angry about something. Or she was just being a bitch.

"Quit being a bitch, Brook, he's obviously going to tell us." Firestorm scoffed. He was actually leaning forward in his chair, clearly very interested in the proceedings, and was cross that Clay had been interrupted.

"Fuck off."

"Right back at you."

"Guys…" Clay interjected, "…remember what Tsunami said?"

They both fell silent.

"Good. The story doesn't matter because of all the other factors!"

The class looked on in confusion.

"OK, lemme give you an example."

He held the torch closer. The smoke made his eyes water.

"One day, there was a young Nightwing…"

There was an excessively long pause.

"…whose mother knew _witch_ craft."

Suddenly, the shadows in the room seemed longer to Pluto.

"He was sleeping one day, and she…"

A bead of sweat tricked down his forehead. Inside his head, the voices grew louder.

 _He knows._

 _He knows._

 _They all know._

 _Kill them._

 _KILL them._

 _KILL THEM._

"… _SACRIFICED HIS SOUL FOR MONEY!"_ Clay shouted.

There was a gasp from Tamarin, but he suspected that was because she had fallen asleep, and had just been jolted awake by the shout.

And she wasn't the only one- Blue snorted, and mumbled sleepily, "what day is it?"

But that didn't matter to Pluto- he was panicking. The voices were clamouring for attention, and he couldn't stop them. He couldn't think, he couldn't see-

"Come. ON!" Clay exclaimed. "Nobody liked that? OK, you- Pluto, right?- what did _you_ think?"

And suddenly, all eyes were on him.

He, obviously, was too focused on dealing with the voices to have thought anything about the story. So, as he scrambled to find a response-

"Ummmmm, witchcraft doesn't work like that!"

"And how would you know?" asked Clay.

"I would know because-" Pluto stopped as soon as he realised what he was saying, "- _because_ I don't know what I'm saying! Of _course_ I don't know about witchcraft, who knows about witchcraft, who mentioned witchcraft even? I didn't! What's witchcraft?"

He laughed nervously, ignoring the stares, slumping down further in his seat.

"The story was great I loved it." he whispered hurriedly.

Clay looked at him, worried. Eventually, he turned away. "Welp, that's one vote for 'the story was good'! Who else wants in?"

As Clay began questioning the other students, Pluto's heart began to beat faster.

 _This can't be happening…_

"See, some of you thought the story was a bit scary, even though it actually wasn't!" Clay exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "That's because of the other factors, like the lighting and the tone…"

As he droned on, Pluto breathed heavily, digging his talons into the wooden desk in front of him.

Everything was getting worse.

The voices were taking over.

The clamouring was reaching a fever pitch. The voices were speaking over one another, and each individual voice was becoming louder.

He almost screamed, feeling as though his head would split apart right down the middle-

And then it stopped.

He was left ravished yet clear headed.

For the first time in years.

But he didn't rejoice.

Because he knew that it was simply a precursor.

Like the calm before the storm.

And so he exhaled, slowly extracting his talons from where they had dug into the wood of his desk.

It was time.

 **~didn't expect that didja~**

She was somewhere.

A vast plain where everything was just different shades of grey; dark, light, whatever.

At this point, it didn't matter.

A voice echoed inside her head, as though her skull was completely hollow.

 _you know, you don't have to do this._

She sighed, turning full circle to face the apparition she somehow knew would be there.

"Do I really have a choice?" she asked.

An ethereal haze permeated her vision. Images of clouds, of grey silhouettes against the deepest of black.

"Don't you _dare_ take that tone with me." a voice screeched across the landscape. In the distance, hazy, an outline of a hag, slumping forward, moving towards her with jittery, jumping motions. She could almost imagine it leaving a trail of slime behind as it walked.

"Fuck right off, Vulture." she said, mentally preparing herself.

He became even clearer, heaving into view. Suddenly, all the other figures disappeared from view. They simply evaporated into dust, pulled towards the sky by some unseen force.

The mist dissipated.

Only he remained.

"Don't talk back to me." he growled.

Normally, she would stop arguing here. She would apologise, hope he hadn't taken offense, and run away. No matter how strong she got, she was always utterly fucking terrified of Vulture. And here, in… whatever this place was, every single thing she found scary about him was just exemplified.

But considering the events of the past few days, she didn't care.

"You heard me." she continued, narrowing her eyes. "Fuck of-"

He slapped her across the snout.

It wasn't one of those soft slaps. It was hard enough to make her entire body fall to one side, eyes closed, the impact area already subtly bruising, the _crack_ echoing.

She gritted her teeth, and turned back just in time to see his outstretched palm descending towards her again. His claws raked across her missing eye on their way down her face.

She said nothing.

So, he hit her again.

And again.

And again.

Though it felt like an eternity, it was over in less than half a minute. Less than half a minute for him to utterly destroy her, again.

She spit out some saliva, which mixed gracefully with the blood dripping down into her mouth, and turned back to Vulture. He was grinning gleefully. An awful sense of déjà vu overtook her then; this was exactly how he'd looked after each one of their 'sessions.'

Though this wasn't comparable.

In real life, he would never scar her in ways others could see.

As he lifted his talon to start again, she resolved not to scream.

She would not show weakness.

No matter what.

 _This is just like what he did to you._ She thought. _Except without words._ _And you never screamed. You won't now either._

 _Don't you_ dare _give him the satisfaction._

But there was a difference between mental torture and physical. And as the punishment to her face continued, the pain mounted, until finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

She opened her mouth _and-_

 **~yay that happened~**

Snowfall woke up to the sounds of screaming.

She opened her eyes groggily.

Just another day in the life of the Queen.

Dragging herself out of her cot, dropping the massive blanket on the ground, she walked to the door. Opening it, she came face to face with Neptune, who had his arm raised, apparently about to knock against the door. His eyes had dark circles under them, his face had weariness etched into it, and he looked generally terrible.

"You look terrible." he told her.

"So do you." she responded.

And then they stumbled towards the massive stairs at the end of the hall, leaning heavily on each other. The shrieks were only getting louder, and Snowfall could easily guess where they were coming from. After all, there were only a handful of prisoners in the castle. And only one capable of producing those noises.

At the bottom of the stairs, a few staffers were milling around, covering their ears. The normally resplendent hall of the palace had been almost entirely destroyed- claw marks covered the walls, and there were crayon markings all over those weirdly grotesque statues. That was because it had been temporarily turned into a play area for the children of the kingdom while the rest of the kingdom dealt with the flu- and a safe space when the revolution to get rid of the circles had begun.

At the bottom of the stairs, they were greeted by a young Icewing with glasses, who looked rather sheepish.

"Sorry about the noise. We've tried to get her to stop, but-"

Snowfall held up a talon. "No, it's fine. We're going to try and talk to her. Personally. Who knows, maybe she'll listen to the Queen. "

The Icewing hesitated, then stepped aside.

Still leaning heavily on one another, they walked down another flight of stairs into the dungeon.

There was one globe of light suspended in the corner of the room, and a barred gate. Slowly, Snowfall swung it open. Neptune stayed behind her, ready to either close the door, or pull her out. It was something they had practiced often- they'd had to use it on some of the more difficult prisoners.

Inside, Onyx was screaming.

That was what she'd expected.

What she hadn't expected were the talons, already embedded deeply in the flesh of the Sandwing's face-

"FUCK!"

Before she could even process what was going on, Neptune had closed the door, rushing in beside her. Instinctively, she followed. He ran towards the Sandwing, batting her talon away from her face before retreating. It didn't seem to make any difference- she still kept screaming. The blood poured from the newly formed wound, congealing in a gory puddle on the ground.

"Onyx?" Snowfall asked tentatively, keeping her distance.

Onyx turned to face her. She was bathed in bandages; the healers had had their work cut out for them when she'd been brought in. Her right eye socket had another bandage over it, drenched in a special ointment that would hopefully help it heal more quickly.

However, some of the bandages were torn where she had clawed her own face with her talons. It was a wound that ran down from just above her missing eye, to the tip of her snout.

Snowfall winced. Even from here, she could tell that it would scar.

The Sandwing was panting desperately, remaining eye manic, but soon it faded. Her breathing slowed, and the crazed look disappeared from her face. She finally focused in on the two Icewings.

"Who are you?" she asked, genuine confusion in her voice.

"I'm the Queen of the Ice Kingdom." Snowfall responded, letting her guard down slightly. "And this is my bodyguard, Neptune. We found you wandering the tundra, incredibly injured, and decided to help you along."

"Why thank-"

Though neither her nor Neptune were expecting the lunge, both responded remarkably quickly. Snowfall kicked Onyx's legs out from underneath her while Neptune leapt over her, landing behind her.

Onyx was fast on her feet too, but she had massive injuries to deal with. So, she was only able to get a few blows and scratches in before Neptune and Snowfall combined forces to subdue her.

She screamed again, much louder and shriller, and her one remaining eye went back to looking insane. Her pupil shrank to the size of a pinprick.

"Please-" she gasped. "LET ME GO-"

And with that, she fell limp.

Snowfall was confused for a second, but then Neptune sighed, shuddering as he tossed a small needle away. It skittered towards the cave wall.

"Anaesthesiacs." he shuddered, making a beeline for the gate. "She'll be out for the next few hours, and I _do not want to be here when she wakes up."_

Snowfall was panting, not expecting a fight this early in the morning. She let her eyes travel over the fallen body, and for a second, considered how many of the wounds that the Sandwing had were self-inflicted.

"Send a healer down here, would you?" she called out, not taking her eyes off the girl. In this state of artificially induced sleep she looked… nice.

"I'm planning to." Neptune called out, stopping as he swung the gate open. "You coming?" he asked.

Snowfall was still inspecting Onyx. There was just something about that girl… that caught the eye…

"You coming, Snowfall?"

She snapped out of it.

"Yeah."

But as they left, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder.

 **~honestly even I didn't expect that~**

Pluto was exhausted.

Nevertheless, he persevered.

He'd flown most of the evening, far into the night, all the way to the edge of the rainforest. It wasn't something he was used to doing, especially since this was the first time he'd even come here in months.

But the signs were all there.

He didn't have much of a choice.

He hit a tree branch right on, almost breaking the entire thing off. Far, far below him, the forest ground sparkled in the moonlight. Off to the side, a small mound, with a few sprouting Calendulas. They weren't native to this region- his late mother had planted them here specifically for him.

Leaping from limb to limb, he moved to the bottom of the tree. The moon hung ominously over the small clearing, and as he reached the bottom, the voices became considerably more aggressive.

He hit the ground hard, ensuring that he put all his weight on the talons on his left hand.

"Ah, fuck!"

He grunted loudly, grabbing and rubbing the talons to ease the pain. Inwardly, he grinned. His left hand would be out of commission for at least the next half-hour, and that was his dominant hand. His skills with his right hand were underdeveloped enough that he could barely hold a pencil.

He wouldn't be going anywhere.

Limping awkwardly over to the Calenduas, he licked the top of one of the buds. The bitter taste of the seeds coated his tongue, and he had to hold his mouth shut to avoid his gag reflex.

Now, he had maybe a few minutes before… _it_ begun.

The voices were already becoming louder.

Back to the tree. Though they hadn't been visible from above, the base was wrapped entirely in incredibly sturdy, rusty chains, with a small padlock. It had been designed specifically with a small combination on it- a combination that he didn't actually know.

The way that he planned to open it afterwards, when the storm had passed and his hand was once more functional, was to close his eyes and try every combination. He was fast enough with practise that it took him only a few minutes to come upon the correct one.

He stepped into position, tightening each individual chain to make sure there was no leeway. Then, he locked the padlock, and scrambled the combination.

Now to wait.

It began with a hiccup.

Small, almost inconsequential.

Then another.

And another.

And then he was hiccupping once every second, struggling to breathe.

And then, suddenly, he vomited up copious amounts of black tar.

And screamed.

And so, the nightmare begun.

 **~good lord what even is happening now~**

The sky…

It transitioned gracefully from a nice, even cyan to light pink, and finally to a blinding brightness that terminated in a circle of yellow light, peeking above the eastern horizon.

It wasn't often that he was up early enough to see the sunrise.

It was… nice.

"Kiwi?"

He froze.

That voice…

He turned to see his mother, Shimmer, stretching as she emerged from their small treehouse, at least fifty feet above the dense foliage of the rainforest floor. Smiling, she looked up at where he was perched.

"How are you today morning?" she asked, scales turning to reflect the colours of the sky as she flew up to meet him.

"Ummm, fine!" he responded, surprised. It had been…quite a long time since she had talked to him in that tone.

"That's the spirit!" she said cheerily, pumping one arm into the air, and he found a grin working its way onto his face almost involuntarily. This… this was how he remembered his mother being in her best moments! Always so energetic, and happy, and free…

"So, what're you planning to do today?" she asked, and he exhaled as he contemplated the answer.

"Well, I _guess_ I could go gather some fruit for the dragonets, and then help out in the medicine cabin. I heard that Mangrove was finally getting his cast off soon, maybe I could help with that!"

She sighed. "Oh, if only I was as ambitious as you when I was your age. I could've changed the world!"

He chuckled. "Well, _I_ don't think I could do something like that."

"I disagree, but you're entitled to your own opinions." she said nonchalantly. "Just remember that I'm right."

"But-"

"No buts. Now, anything interesting going on in your love life?" she asked, a cheeky grin worming its way onto her face.

He blushed, suddenly reminded of a certain blue dragon.

"No." he said, very aware of the patches of pink blossoming over his torso. A few light purple rings rippled from his snout. Before he knew it, his entire body was a blend of hot pink and slight purple. Shimmer laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh dearie, your scales betray you! Now, tell me who it is."

He lowered his snout, resting it on the tree limb below him. "I… think I'm in love with a dragon."

"Hmmm?" his mother hummed, the inflection clearly an invitation for him to continue.

"…the dragon is from another tribe…"

"Hmmm?"

"…and it's a he…"

"Hmmm?"

"Wait, you're not going to harp on that part?"

"I don't care whether it's a boy or a girl! I care about the _gossipy bits._ Like, how hot is he?"

He blushed again. "Very. Very hot. But… I'm not sure how to tell him I like him…"

"Do you two have chemistry?"

"Yes?" he answered hesitantly.

"Does he seem to have feelings too?"

"Maybe?"

"Then just tell him. Straight up tell him, and deal with the aftermath." she said with an air of finality.

"But-"

"No buts! Now, watch this."

As she turned back to the eastern horizon, he followed her.

And boy was he glad he did.

A massive flock of tropical birds suddenly lifted up from the treeline, almost filling the sky. Birds of all colours, shapes and sizes, flocking together and heading closer to the dense part of the rainforest, where most of the fruits would be.

Almost as soon as they had come together, they dispersed, perching on different trees, now completely invisible among the bright green leaves.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Shimmer asked softly. "Yet over so soon…"

"It is." he replied. "Beautiful, and fleeting."

"And so is life." she grinned, turning back to him. "That's why we gotta make the most of it, am I right?"

He smiled back. And as he snuggled closer to her, watching the sun climb into the sky, he realised that he was…comfortable.

For the first time in a while.

And he smiled a bit when he realised that.

Then he woke up.

 **~...~**

The glacier was absolutely, utterly terrifying.

Though the ice was almost completely clear, the shadows became more and more pronounced as they went on, creating an illusion of a massive, cavernous space, with a singular oculus, high, high above.

An illusion simply because the actual roof of the tunnel they were walking through was maybe a few feet above their heads. It dipped down sometimes, which lead to Kiwi bumping his head on it.

The Rainwing was draped over Bright's back. Bright had completely exhausted himself, first casting a spell that most Sapphirewings apparently _couldn't_ cast, and then carrying the both of them at least a few miles into the bowels of the icy behemoth. To make matters worse, they had discovered that Bright suffered from _extreme_ claustrophobia, and had almost broken down several times throughout the journey.

They had eventually stopped, and rested for a few hours. Bright had woken up a few minutes ago, and would've continued onwards if it wasn't for how peaceful Kiwi looked when he was asleep.

And so _incredibly cute!_

He groaned, smacking his talon against his forehead.

 _Yeah, you have it bad._ He thought, and sighed, tracing small outlines in the icy ground.

 _Of course I do._

A small movement from Kiwi alerted him to the fact that the Rainwing was now awake.

"Rise and shine, dear." Bright said, not raising his head from where it was resting.

Kiwi's breathing quickened for a second, and suddenly Bright remembered the nightmare the Rainwing had had a few days ago.

"Night terrors?" he asked softly, turning to look at him.

Kiwi had a look about him- it was hard to quantify, to… put into words. It felt as though he was grasping at tiny fragments of his dream, hoping to capture at least a few before it faded into oblivion. Soon, however, the look disappeared, and he faded back into his usual self…

…almost.

"Are you alright?" Bright asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he responded, sitting back down. "Just… tired."

The Rainwing buried his face into Bright's neck, pressing his snout against the Sapphirewing's jawline. A soft, almost involuntary gasp escaped from Kiwi's lips, lips that Bright desperately wished he could capture with his own-

Blushing furiously, Bright got up and began walking. He hoped that Kiwi was too tired to notice… whatever that just was. In a desperate attempt to distract him, the Sapphirewing began speaking.

"So, uuuunh…"

A sob.

And almost instantly, Bright realised that Kiwi wasn't just tired.

Deliberately not looking back at the Rainwing, who was no doubt trying to stifle the sounds escaping from his chest, and furiously wiping at the tears falling from his eyes, Bright continued walking.

And so the day wore on, Bright slowly walking through one of the ice tunnels far, far underneath the surface of the glacier, with Kiwi pressed against his spine, occasionally sniffling slightly, or digging his talons into the rainbow-coloured scales on his wings whenever the more violent cries wracked his body.

Eventually, the sounds stopped, and the Rainwing lapsed back into silence. Bright waited for a short amount of time before he turned back to glance at him.

Though Kiwi tried to keep his emotions to himself, the splotches of colour all over his body betrayed him. Massive patches of pale green grew over his scales, and most of his snout was now a pale white. The marks around his eyes, which remained closed, remained a mixture of brown and grey. He let out a soft, shuddering sigh.

"You okay?" Bright asked, avoiding his instinct to stroke the Rainwing's face with his talons.

Kiwi snorted, adjusting his head so that now his forehead was resting against Bright's neck. "Kinda." he mumbled.

"You know you can talk to me about this stuff, right?"

Kiwi sighed. "Look, I promise that I'll talk to you. Just like you promised that you'd talk to me, right? Just… give me a while."

Bright opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Something felt… different.

Less comfortable.

Less right.

 **~I don't know, that segment just felt really awkward and fhaaaak~**

A cave, lit by some candlelight.

A dragon with metallic, yellow scales hunched over a desk, a scavenger sitting on his shoulder, his back bent and his hand gripping his chin in the exact pose as the figure in the sculpture 'The Thinker' by Auguste Rodin.

"Tell me something, would ya?" he asked the dragon.

"Sure."

"Do you _honestly_ expect this to work?"

The dragon slowly looked up from his desk, neon yellow scales flashing in the candlelight. "O ye of little faith, it's already working."

"Really?" the scavenger asked, walking over to the document he was scribbling into. "Enlighten me."

"Well, first I did-"

"I know what you've a _lready_ done." he said. "You've been boasting about instigating that goddamn fight for weeks."

"But it was awesome!" the dragon whined.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is what you're doing _right now._ And _that_ is what I'd like to know."

A pause.

"Well, I'm not doing that much right now-"

"Then why don't you _do_ something instead of scribbling love letters to Rosie!"

The dragon scrunched up the paper, blushing furiously.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiine." he said as he tossed the crumpled up paper outside the cave. "I _guess_ I'll do something."

"Nonono wait-"

The dragon concentrated hard.

The world seemed to warp, and then snapped back into place.

He panted. "There, that's done it."

The scavenger just stood there, aghast.

"What the fuck did you just do?"

 **whå†'§ håþþêñïñg?**

 **ι ∂ση'т кησω**

 **Ŧยภ!**

 **t̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅt̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅt̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅt̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅt̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅ t̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅt̶̎͋ͪ̽͊̊͛̉͡͞͏̹͈̤̖͔̭̯̤̝̺̦̭͉̮͇̼e̸̵̖̭̘̜͍͖̐̾̍͌̊ͤ̾̄ͯ̽̓ͫͩ̿͋̕ͅs̶̴̛͎͈̖̙͍̥̼̮͒̑̄̊̐ͨ͆̓̋̋͊ͮͮͫ͡t̴̛̛̪̜͚̠̝͍͉̙͙͖̰̘̝̹̟̝͍͐̓̉̉ͨ̉ͯ̒͋ͦ̋̀ͅͅiͣ͊̄ͤ́͡҉̖͖̬̠͙͟n̷̷̙̲̼͈͔̫̘͈̈ͤ̉͂͛ͤ͋͋͐͑͛͑͛́̕g̴̵̷̡͚̫̥̙͎̤̦͉̹͖̲͉̻̥ͫͪ̃̽ͯ͋͞ͅ,͍̼̱̻̘̳̜̹͕̪͖͙̜̗͇̉͗ͪ̆̀͊ͩͩ̀͊̐̄ͭ̏͢ ̛̯̝̱̼͕͇̬̗͓̰̜̯̻͎̯̮̓̅̏ͧͬͤ̈́ͤ̇͝͞t̷̨̬̦̝͖̥̻̹̠̤̰͕͉̥̓ͯͯ̕͞ͅȅ̷̼̫̻̥̩̟̞͉̟̪͔̺̭̾ͪ̏̀ͨ̿̒ͮ̂ͭ̓̅͢͝ŝ̛͚̠̲̼̱̻̦̻͎̰͎̫̠ͬ̿͋̌͑ͦ̄̈͆̄ͬ̚t̘̭͕̪͎̩̬͙͙̍͆̃̐ͩͤ̇ͤ͑͆̑̈́̀̚͢͡i̡̧̼̲̗̘̫̘̤͉̦̦̖̟ͦͣ͛̂̆̂ñ̎ͯ̔̂̅͘͡͏̛̥̙͇̳̻͓̠̠̫͚̖̤͖g̙͓̫̠͓͖̯̱̻̳̥̻̘̮̤̭ͪ̑ͦ͆̉͐͒̀͘͜͟,̡͎̤̙̭͚̼̤͉͔̻̳̣̫̳̜͖̍̂̆͑ͬ̏ͨͪ̊͛̐ͨ̑́͘ ̸͌̇͛ͧ̂̍̈́̃҉̡̻̩͚̖͓̹̣͉͉̟̤̮̖͕̜̙̼̀ͅĮ̣̳̩̰̥̙̹͙̫͕̊ͥ̓̐̓̀'̹̗̝̱̲̼ͨ́͂̅ͫ͋ͨ̿̓ͯ̏ͨ͟͝m̷̶̎ͣ̄ͨͥ͗ͥͣ͌̓͝͏̞̩͚͇̝̺̟̤̻͖̪͈̦̲̼ͅ ̶̡̯̰͖̞͖͓͇͈̣̼̌̾̌ͣ̈́ͬ̕͜j̵͇͇͕͇̯͔̯͇͒͐̑̂̀͜͜͡ụ̸̢̨̬͖͎͉͚͉͚̣̜̳̱̗̹̣̤̇̋͋͗s̡͎͈̲̤̙͍̦͓̝͂̄͂͋̇͒͑̓́͘ͅtͩ̒͛̎̅̒͐ͪ̔̓͏̝͉͖̤̱̜̫̮̮̮̘̙̠̀͜͢ͅ ̸̛̱̫̥̪͙̘̥̙̼̣̫ͦ͂̆͐͢͝s̗̮͉̗̠͎̪̩͈͇̗̤̥͇̹͕̬̘ͧ̈̂̆͊͛̇̓ͯ̓ͯ̓ͦ͛͊͒́͡ü̸̧̧̩̮͙͖͔̈́̉̓͐ͣ̀͝ǵ̢̠̳̱̱͈͕̝͚̞̙̻̥̲͎͈̾ͩ̆̿̎ͥ̍̀̚g̵̨̈ͮ̃ͪ͏̘̯͕̥̺̻̬̳̦̼͖͇̗̻͇̕ͅe̡͚̩͕͎̙̱̅́ͫͯ̄ͥ̽̉̔͆ͤ͘͟͟ŝ̸̼͇̰̭͒ͣ͛ͤ́̓͒̆̑͢͡͠t̢̢̝̬͖̙͖̞̱̞̬̺͍͖̲ͩ̏̓ͭͮ̐ͥ̒ͩ̃͆̌̂̓͊ͨ̀̕͡ĭ̵̺̰͍̖͙̺͇͓̲̹̭̮̍̊̅͌ͮ̒͋ͨ̔́́ͩ͞͞ņ̴̶̪̥͈͚͉̦͓̟̺̤ͣ̄͋ͩ̾̊̏͊̓͒̋͌̇ͥ͋͑͐̈̚͜ģ̸̞̖̯̣̥̼̥̝͚̮̹̹͉̤͔̗̈̏̉̄̓̔͛ͤ̚͘ͅ**

 ***ahem***

 **A "fun" chapter, amirite?**

 **Also, I was just joking back there! I'm not brave enough to come out of the closet I write my stories in.**

 **Another couple of days, another mediocre update.**

 **Yay.**


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Been planning a new story for a while, and I think the second chapter will be up by the time I finish posting this. It's called Butterflies, and it's about Darkstalker. Unlike this story, I've planned it out beginning to end, so it might update quicker. Do not fear, though- I am determined to finish this one! Check it out, if you want to.

 _Trigger warnings: mentions of severe depression and suicide, and lots of self harm. also_ ** _blackberr_ _y_** _if you're still reading, skip over the entire first third of the chapter. And the last third. And a sizeable amount of the middle third. sorry 'bout that._

 **A/N: So this is the 11th story on the WOF fanfiction DOT net website to surpass 100k words! Kinda mad I wasn't number 10, but that position was rightfully claimed by WOF Diamond Wings Eventide Prayer, which I should probably read sometime soon.**

 **Also, I've finally settled on a tone for this story. Stupid, fun shit every chapter, followed by extreme sadness.**

 **Like life!**

 **…wait, is that not what life is like for you guys?**

 **Only me I guess.**

 **Also, apologies for violating show don't tell in this chapter. I just needed to introduce a certain concept, and I couldn't think of any other way to do it.**

 **This chapter made it so painfully close to 110k, but… it was not to be.**

 **~oh the places you'll be sad~**

Pluto woke up feeling… fine.

Oddly enough.

He'd been prepared for the apocalypse. Usually, his transformations lasted for hours on end, and he was unconscious throughout most of them. Yesterday, though, he had a vague memory of what had happened- standard fare; his other side had tried to escape, failed, left a few self-included wounds for him to feel in the morning…

Honestly, it hadn't been that bad.

Sure, his hand still smarted, and he felt like he'd been hit by a truck, but that was how he _always_ felt. After the storm had passed, he'd even been able to release himself, and fly back to Jade Mountain before anybody realized that he was gone!

Slowly, he cracked open his eyes.

The cave was illuminated by a soft, yellow glow. The air was crisp and cool, and the faint smell of petrichor in the air was delightful. Birds chirped outside, and the wind slowly rustled through the trees.

Oh, life was good.

Suddenly, he felt a burst of energy, and a huge smile erupted onto his face. He had barely transformed, it was a beautiful day, and even the voices weren't that bad anymore!

It was a brand-new day, and it was time to start it RIGHT!

He sprang up from his bunk and-

"OW!"

-massaged his forehead where he'd hit it against that _damn_ ledge again.

 _Guess some things never change._ He thought bitterly, before shaking his head.

 _No, think positive thoughts, think positive thoughts…_

He climbed out of his bunk, this time making sure not to step on Firestorm's face. Casually, he strolled away from the others, heading towards the door. He was about halfway to the opening-

-when his foot hit an obstruction, and he tumbled to the ground, bashing his forehead against the cold stone.

"OW!"

And so, that burst of energy left him. It was as though some divine being had decided to help him along, realised that he had piss-poor luck, and had just given up. The voices once more rose to their usual volume, and to make matters worse, his head began smarting.

"The _fuck_ did I even trip on?" he raged, turning back to find-

Nothing.

 _Oh, wait._

"Tamarin?"

A groan echoed from a small patch of space that looked… off. All the shadows on the rock were incorrect for the time of day, and it was really messing with his perspective. Slowly, he reached out a talon, and felt slick scales.

 _Of course._

Though rare, this wasn't completely unprecedented. Tamarin was blind, and though her colours changed with her emotions, she couldn't really control them. Recently, however, she'd been learning to camouflage herself better with Anemone's help.

 _Oh, yeah. Anemone._

"Tamarin, what happened?" he asked, scooting a bit closer to her.

She groaned again, and this time he caught the movement of her arms as they moved from her sides to atop her head, resting on where he presumed her eyes were.

"Leave me alone." she mumbled.

"What happened." he deadpanned, knowing that it would take a minimal amount of coaxing to get the story out of her.

He was right.

"Nothing," she began, "it's just that- that Anenome is acting like a- like a stupid person, I don't know!" she threw her arms up, apparently exasperated with her girlfriend. "She's always telling me that I'm 'too good' for her, and she's scared that I'll leave her because she's a 'terrible person'-" here, she used air quotes to emphasise her point, "-even though I've _told her_ that I love her to death and honestly _I do,_ and-" she paused here, before continuing, "- _and_ I'm probably a selfish piece of trash for just sitting here and moping instead of helping her, right?"

Pluto nodded, before his brain caught up with him. "No, no, you're not selfish," he backtracked, "you're just… going through a lot! I'm sure if you two just _talk it out…"_

He awkwardly patted her head, but stopped when she shot him a glare. Slowly retracting his talon, he became progressively more uncomfortable.

"OK could you not do that?" he asked. "I know you can't see, but it feels as though you're staring into my soul."

The Rainwing sighed, finally dropping her camouflage and going back to her regular blue and gold colour scheme. Her light blue eyes turned towards the general direction of the door, and she began to grin.

"Fine. I _guess_ I'll go and talk to her."

And with that, she leaped up and took a step towards the entrance to the cave. Unfortunately, that step put her _very sharp talons_ right on top of Pluto's torso.

" _NO DON'T-"_ he squeaked, but she'd already climbed over him and into the hallway.

"Thanks again, Pike!" she called out behind her.

Pluto sighed, before peeling himself off the ground, and limping in the direction of the prey centre.

 **~didja notice that tamarin called him by the wrong name~**

Tamarin ran towards the prey centre, where she knew that Anemone would be waiting. They usually met here in the morning, simply because they didn't often have the same classes, and weren't free at the same time.

Which sucked.

But it helped them appreciate each other's company even more!

Grinning, she picked up speed. The other dragons in the hallways had to move quickly to get out of her way, and a few of them swore after her.

She didn't care. The euphoria running through her veins made her feel invincible!

The advice Pluto had given her had kind-of kickstarted some motivation in her mind. All the hopelessness she'd been feeling yesterday had almost completely disappeared.

She would convince Anemone that she was a good person. She was certain of it.

As the smell of scrolls became more abundant, she recognised that she was nearing the library. Sometimes, they would end up reading together. It was always fun, since Anemone's mother had actually written a lot of books, and read them to the Seawing as a kid. That meant that she was _really_ good at reading aloud, which was useful because… you know.

Still, the library was quite close to the prey centre. That was a clear indication that she was close. In fact, if she remembered it correctly, it should be just…

Bounding into the cavernous space, Tamarin stopped for an instant, assessing her surroundings. The air was quite a lot damper and sharper, due to the food and fruit nearby, and the stream running through the centre. The echo of voices meant that she couldn't really rely on her hearing so much, but she had grown used to tuning certain sounds out.

Concentrating, she heard a small sigh from over in a corner of the room. Casually, she lowered herself closer to the ground, inhaled deeply, and leapt towards the source of the sound. At the apex of her jump, she spread her wings and beat them once, propelling themselves towards the sound.

A slight gasp was all she heard before her talons made contact with a lithe body, maybe a few inches shorter than her. They both tumbled head over heels, before coming to a rest with her on top of the other dragon.

She made to move her snout closer, but then stopped. "Wait, this _is_ Anemone, right?"

"Tamarin, wh-wha?" Anemone asked from underneath her.

"Good." Before Anemone could react further, Tamarin had pinned her firmly to the ground.

"Now, what were you telling me yesterday?"

Anemone gulped. "That… I wasn't a good person?"

"And?"

"And… that I didn't deserve you?"

"Good."

She grabbed Anemone's arms, holding them above her head.

"Now, tell me that you're a good person, and that you deserve me."

"…what?"

"Say it, Anemone."

"Ummm…" a voice began from behind them; probably a dragon worried he was witnessing an attack. "…do you need help, miss?"

Anemone laughed awkwardly. "No, it's just… no. I'm fine."

As the other dragon hastily retreated, Tamarin kept looking at where she hoped the Seawing's eyes were.

"Say it."

Anemone hesitated. "I'm… a good person."

"Continue."

"I… deserve you."

"Brilliant. And you know how I know these things?"

"…No?"

"Because I have seen you change. I've seen you go from an arrogant, selfish dragon into the caring, selfless person you are now. I've seen you struggle with the things you've done, and overcome your own doubts. I _know_ that you're a good person, even if you don't. Or, if you don't want to believe it."

She could almost feel Anemone smile. The Seawing sighed as Tamarin released her arms.

"Thank you _so much,_ it's just… I don't know, I'm just… always afraid that I'm going to do something wrong, or mess something up…"

Tamarin hugged her as she continued. "… or that I'll end up going back to how I was earlier, you know, develop a god complex or whatever."

The Rainwing giggled. "Hey, that's why you have me, right? I'll keep you as grounded as you want. Believe me, if you act out of line, I'll be the first person to knock some sense into you.

"But until that day comes, just… enjoy. Don't keep second guessing everything that you do. Have fun!"

Tamarin smiled at Anemone, expecting a heartfelt thank you, or a tight hug.

She hadn't expected _this._

 **~this feels weird to write, but not for the reasons you'd expect~**

Pluto was pissed.

After six minutes of walking, he'd realised that he had accidentally taken a wrong turn somewhere, and had ended up deep inside the bowels of the mountain. He'd been so lost that, instead of retracing his steps through the caves, he had jumped out through a crack in a wall, and flown all the way around the mountain, hoping to enter the prey centre from outside.

Eventually, he had landed, and had stumbled drowsily into the cavern proper to find Tamarin and Anemone furiously making out in a far-off corner.

He stopped immediately, rubbing his eyes before squeezing them shut. He took a deep breath, and then opened them _wide._

Still happening.

He casually slapped his snout.

Still going at it.

He pinched himself.

 _Not a dream?_

 _Not a dream._

"Alrighty then."

Blinking hard, he retreated to the other corner of the prey cavern, grabbing a mango as he navigated the piles of fruit. A significant fraction of the dragons in the prey cavern were looking pretty disturbed, and a few others had left, since public displays of affection just weren't very common around these parts. Some dragons, like Pluto, had just resigned themselves to this. It was as though they couldn't even muster up the energy to care.

 _This is my reality._ He thought, hopping over a small pile of bananas. _This is what my life has become._

All that blind optimism he'd had earlier in the day had left him, and now he was just left with his usual blend of nihilism and sarcasm. And that, of course, meant that he was beginning to slowly question the events of the previous night.

 _Why_ did _it not go as badly as it usually does?_ he considered as he munched on the fruit, juices dribbling down his chin.

His transformations were, at the best of times, violent affairs that he barely remembered. In fact, the only proof he ever had of them happening was whatever was left behind afterwards…

Usually it was massive claw marks. Sometimes, it was the remains of a dead animal, a barely-recognizable mess of blood and bone smeared across the ground, or on a tree. Other times…

He preferred not to think about the other times.

There was absolutely no way that his transformation just _stopping_ at a random point was a coincidence, or the world cutting him some slack. In his mind, that simply wasn't a possibility.

So, he shut his eyes, trying his darndest to shut out the voices too, and thought…

 _Well, chances are that somebody- or some_ thing- _stopped it in its tracks._

Was that even possible?

His transformations were usually easy to see coming; voices, hiccups, a lust for blood, and so on; but very hard to prevent.

 _So, I'm looking for something that has an intimate knowledge of witchcraft-_

No. He scrapped that idea almost immediately. Not only was an intimate knowledge of witchcraft not required in most cases, he was pretty sure the only people on the continent with such knowledge were him and his mother.

Well, only him now.

He grimaced, and abandoned that line of thinking. Besides, _he_ had an intimate knowledge of witchcraft, had tried for _years_ to stop the transformations, and had never found a way.

 _Point is, an intimate knowledge of witchcraft is useless. I'm looking for someone- or_ something- _that can influence the world in such a way as to change stuff…_

Immediately, he recognised two candidates. Whatever had caused that weird fight everybody was in a week or so back, and Green.

 _Blue too!_ A tiny voice from way back in his skull shouted over the mumbling fray, and Pluto found himself in agreement. Though he hadn't seen what the blue dragon's power was, it was probably comparable to Green's- and that meant he could very easily have just stopped the transformation.

 _Right. We have potential candidates for who caused this mess, so… now what?_

He couldn't very well _ask_ them, because that would end up revealing one of his largest secrets to two dragons who, to be honest, he did not trust. Besides, he had no idea what had caused that fight.

At this point, Pluto decided that it was far too early in the morning to be thinking about such things, and determined to mull it over later in the day- perhaps in the library, when he could observe both Blue and Green. Together.

For now, he just grabbed an orange out of a nearby fruit pile, and munched on it.

 _The simple things in life._

A voice began shouting faintly, the sound emanating from the entrance he had entered the prey centre from. It was panicked, and urgent, and unnaturally high-pitched. Pluto couldn't help but grin, for he was good friends with the owner of that voice, and if what he thought was going to happen was going to happen-

 _Well, this ought to be fun._

Casually, he got up, and moved a few steps closer to the couple. He kept his eyes on the opening, though.

The shouting continued, and the other dragons in the cave were starting to take notice. A few of them began moving towards the hall, unsure of whether they were under attack, or being haunted by a very angry ghost.

Pluto was just keeping all his attention on not bursting into laughter.

Suddenly, Pike ran through the opening, eyes wild, paws flailing and breathing hard. He cast his glance about the massive room, and noticed Anemone.

"Oh, thank god," he gasped, still breathing hard "I went into your cave and you weren't there and for a second-"

Then his brain finally processed what he was witnessing and his jaw almost hit the ground.

At this point, Pluto was giggling so hard that he was doubled over, tears in his eyes as he struggled to maintain his composure.

And then it got so, _so_ much better.

Tamarin turned away from Anemone, who continued to pepper the Rainwing's face with kisses, and- despite her sightlessness- looked Pike dead in the eyes.

"We're in the middle of something here." she said.

If an earthquake had brought Jade Mountain to the ground at that exact moment, and Pluto had been crushed under the rubble- he would've been completely satisfied with his life. He would've died _so very_ happy, having seen the look on Pike's face.

The Seawing bodyguard cleared his throat. "I- uh… I can see that."

Pluto burst into laughter, bashing his talon against the rocky ground of the prey cavern. Tears fell from his eyes as he dissolved into chuckles. They shook his body so violently he could barely even think. He held his sides as he rolled on the ground, unable to take the smile off his face.

That…

…might've just be the best thing he'd ever seen.

Pike, who at this point was thoroughly embarrassed, quickly excused himself, and ran away. Tamarin and Anemone went back to what they'd been doing, and Pluto just lay, twitching, in the foetal position.

Giggling furiously.

 _Oh, life is good again._

 **~are you ready for life to not be good again?~**

There were days.

Days when he finally felt alive again.

Days that he woke up in the morning; calm, just before the sunrise, and saw those _angels,_ curled up around him, sometimes shivering from the contact with his icy scales.

And he would almost weep with joy, because for the first time in his life, he knew that he was loved, and the feeling was so incredible that-

-that he would smile, and laugh, and bound around their camp, and wake the two of them up excitedly, and read them some poems he'd been working on, or sketch the two of them lying together in a small clearing of dirt.

He would challenge them to a race, or taunt them about their obvious romance- even if tiny pangs of jealousy stabbed at him when he saw the ease with which they acted around each other, he didn't care!– or rant about his scavenger research to them for hours…

And then there were the days that he wished they'd never showed up to save him.

Days on which he woke up with that _urge_ growling inside of him, threatening to burst free at any moment. Days that he would slowly open his old scars, and watch the blood trickle down the scales.

It was less viscous than most people thought. He spent a lot of time, lounging in the pre-dawn light, cheek pressed against his forearm, watching the droplets drip down, precious life tricking into the dirt, softening it until it became muddy.

Soft.

Delicate.

That was the best way to describe his cuts.

No, there was another word.

 _Sickening-_

The nightmares were still a constant; he'd woken up screaming and weeping more times than he could count, and each time _they'd_ been there to comfort him- to whisper soothing nothings into his ear as they held him close, or to bandage up his wounds when they found what he had done.

And sometimes he held them close, and he wept into their shoulders, and the raw pain tore into his mind like a rabid animal devouring meat, clawing and scratching and flailing.

And other days he felt sick to the stomach, and couldn't even bear to look at them; days where he raked his talons across his arms in a desperate attempt to stop the thoughts.

Because of course the thoughts were there too.

Except they were different now.

Visions, almost. Of Moon and Qibli scoffing in his face, or screaming at him.

And of course, when they inevitably woke up, they'd hold him, and make him talk to them, and tell him that they loved him…

Except there was always a weariness. A dullness. A… he couldn't, he _shouldn't fucking_ say it, but it was there. From dealing with him.

Boredom.

And he knew that their sympathy… it was finite.

There would be a day that they realised that he was more trouble than he was worth.

And he dreaded that day with every singular molecule of his being.

 _No…_

A ragged whimper, a tiny droplet of blood on a talon, and a flash of lightning.

He was dependent on them both.

Good fucking god, he couldn't live without them.

If they ever ended up leaving him… he would kill himself.

He knew it.

And it was fucking terrifying.

And the only thing worse was the fear…

… the fear that they only stayed with him because they knew too, they _knew_ that he couldn't survive without _them,_ and they were too scared to leave, and they actually hated him for what he was doing to them, _and_ -

A cry. Escaping from his tattered chest, exploding from his gaping mouth.

A cry for help?

Who knew.

He sure didn't.

 _Stop._

 _Breathe._

 _Listen…_

…

He'd first kissed Qibli yesterday.

It had been grey. That was his main takeaway from most of the day. Just, various shades of grey. And he and Qibli had had what was, now that he thought about it, their first massive argument.

It was also the closest he had ever come to having one of his… visions… realised in real life.

It had been after he had just woken up, drowsy with what he at first thought was sleep, but soon realized was a side effect of him accidentally opening some wounds on his arms while asleep.

That's right.

He'd done it so many times that it had become instinct.

He'd begun sleep cutting.

It was almost funny.

Except it wasn't.

The Sandwing had been the first to notice, and Winter had been so utterly _fucking ashamed,_ because _he'd promised_ not to do it again, he'd _sworn_. And he'd remembered the look on Moon's face the day before that- one of the happy days, the day on which they'd actually talked about their feelings for each other…

He remembered that day.

The colours that morning were so much more vibrant. They popped off the trees, and the leaves, and the tiny insects running through the forest, and the butterflies that darted and spiralled and flew free…

Him and Moon had finally decided to address their main concern- the fact that Winter still had feelings for her. Qibli had told them that he was fine with them doing anything. Just… to consult him before they decided.

He'd tried walking away, that bastard. And he'd had a look on his face that Winter knew well- the feeling of being the third wheel… of being unwanted.

He wouldn't wish that upon anybody.

So he'd pinned the Sandwing to the ground, laughing all the way, and though Qibli pouted and protested the relief in his eyes was so _obvious_ …

The next morning he'd called Winter a damned fool.

To try and sacrifice everything he'd built with Moon (and everything Winter had built with _him,_ the Sandwing had added sadly), for just a few seconds of gratification.

A few seconds of pain, just because he was used to it.

"I hate you!"

He'd spat- yes, _spat_ the words- at Winter.

And Winter had told him that he was sorry, and _fucking begged_ him not to tell Moon, because he couldn't bear the sorrow and dismay he knew would be on her face, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that _he_ had done that to her.

He'd told the Sandwing that he would do anything to make up for it.

Anything.

Qibli had told him that 'anything' wasn't enough.

In what he later claimed was a moment of anger and desperate fear, Qibli had called him a liar. For promising to get better, and letting them both down-

He'd cried.

He'd broken down crying, the tears streaming down his face in rivers as he wondered- in a desperate rasp- what Winter would do. How far the Icewing would go.

"Would you fucking try it again, you worthless sack of shit?"

He still remembered the scene.

Qibli, eyes red, standing over him, hurt evident in every part of him. He was standing against a grey and black backdrop- quite cloudy and bleak, as he recalled.

They had been slowly moving- on foot- across the Sky Kingdom. Still staying away from other dragons, mind you. According to Qibli, it was going to be a fun adventure!

It wasn't.

"We trusted you!" he screamed, and by now Moon was awake, and quickly advancing to where they stood. Winter remembered the fear, the real, actual fear that had coursed through his bones when the Sandwing had begun to advance forward, rage in those dark gems.

"We fucking put our faith in you! And what do you go and do, you motherfucking coward? WHAT DO YOU-"

Moon had slapped Qibli hard enough that Winter had thought the bruise would scar.

They hadn't talked much for the rest of the day- simply focusing their attention on getting Winter stable. He'd lost a lot of blood, and would probably have bled out if Qibli hadn't found him.

Unlike their previous altercations, this had had an effect on the Icewing. Though it wasn't Qibli's fault. The rage had been warranted. Qibli was not to blame here.

As he had told them.

Over and over again.

It… it was just that the way Qibli had looked and sounded when he moved towards him; it was exactly how his father would move towards him in the safety of their home, if Winter ever took a step out of line.

It was generally a precursor to a punishment.

Not Qibli's fault.

Not his fault at all.

 _Not entirely…_ A voice whispered.

Winter wished he could reach inside his brain and rip it out.

So when the Sandwing, while trying to bandage the Icewing's self-inflicted wounds, had made a move towards Winter too quickly, Winter had flinched.

Just a tiny bit. A slight retraction of the hands, a slightly closed eye, a slight flattening of the ears, and a slight twist away from the talons advancing towards him.

Qibli hadn't said much.

None of them had.

He'd just turned away for a split second, before returning to his work.

Refusing to look him in the eyes.

But later that night, he'd crept over to where the Icewing lay. And he'd told him that he understood.

Winter remembered _that_ scene too. Stars spread out overhead, a canopy of coniferous trees below the orbs of light, one of the moons full while the other two remained in various stages of waxing and waning; and the sounds of the forest. Slowly, so as not to wake Moon, Qibli had gotten up from where he lay, and walked miserably over to the Icewing.

And he'd wrapped those sun-kissed wings around his icy scales, and pressed his snout to his chest, and as the soft sobs wracked the Sandwing's lithe body, he'd told Winter that _he fucking understood now._

He understood why Winter wanted to hurt himself.

"It's-" a sob, "-it's so much easier to just hurt yourself, rather than try and stop hurting others, or to get their forgiveness. I-" he'd cried out, a soft sound that almost woke Moon, "-I wanted to. Winter, I _fucking_ wanted to. When I hurt you _so badly,_ and you- you were scared of me, I- I fucking wanted to take your talon, just- just take it and _hurt_ _myself-_ "

His sand-toned body seized up, a gasp of shock escaping from his mouth as he finally admitted his folly. "- and hurt myself with it. Because- because then it'd be an eye for an eye! And- and you wouldn't hate me, and – and I wanted to do it. Because it's so much easier than having to ask you to stop blaming me, to stop _hating me…"_

The sounds of his quick breaths, claws scrabbling against icy scales for purchase, wings wrapping around his body, gasping for air, searching desperately for a respite from the emotions;

Begging.

 _Don't…_

"Qibli, I couldn't bring myself to hate you." Winter began, truthfully. He wasn't sure if he was capable of anything but the truth around… _them._

"You _or_ Moon. You two… complete me."

And Qibli had sobbed so much louder, and he'd softly beat his talon against Winter's chest, and eventually he'd grown _so fucking frustrated_ with his inability to stop crying that, before Winter could do anything about it, he'd slapped himself across the face _so fucking hard,_ and Winter had held him, and stroked him, and told him that it was _fine, they were fine…_

It hurt so much.

Because, in Qibli at that moment, Winter saw a reflection of himself.

And of course, it was only because of Winter that Qibli was like this.

…sometimes, irony was a cruel mistress.

Finally, after almost half an hour, the storm had passed. Qibli had finally stopped sobbing, and was now just pressed against Winter, moulded to each one of his curves.

Calm.

Winter had his eyes closed, and was simply running his talons across the Sandwing's face when Qibli had softly grasped his arm.

Grasped it right where the mess of scars was most concentrated.

His eyes had flown open, but he hadn't protested. He'd simply watched, as Qibli inspected the wounds with a look in his eyes that was hard to place…

The Sandwing had pressed his snout to those wounds, slowly dragging them across the soft scales of his mouth. And then he'd let go of his arm, and looked up at Winter with such extreme sadness in his eyes that-

Winter had kissed him.

Not on the cheek either.

He wasn't sure where it had come from. All he knew was that one second he was staring down at that ochre face, those oh-so-pretty freckles, that tiny scar that, unlike Winter's, made the Sandwing somehow look better, those dark eyes that mirrored his own so perfectly, that mouth…

And the other his lips were on Qibli's.

They tasted hot, with a slight tang of citrus- which made sense, since basically all they'd been eating for the past few days were fruits. They were smooth as silk, and wet, and as Winter leaned in closer, they parted slightly, letting a tiny gasp escape from the Sandwing's mouth.

Almost immediately, he drew back, and looked at Qibli.

His eyes glimmered in the soft moonlight, looking up at him with such a desperate fear evident in them, but also a bit of acceptance, and…

Their lips met again.

Winter wasn't sure how this was supposed to happen. He'd never kissed a dragon before, and honestly he'd expected the first dragon he ever kissed to be Moon, not Qibli.

But as he kept going, some deeper instinct guided him.

He softly pressed his own lips against Qibli's, letting his right talon splay out and massage the portion of the Sandwing's cheek that Moon had hit. Quietly, he drew back just long enough to draw a short breath, and then continued.

It was… magical.

There was no other word to describe it.

He explored his warm, wet mouth like it was a mountain, running a singular talon along the ridge of his jaw. The Sandwing sighed deeply, and suddenly, their tongues met, delicately impacting as he put a talon behind Qibli's head, drawing him closer. It was… unexpected.

He wasn't complaining, though.

After a few minutes, Winter finally separated from Qibli, opening his eyes to gauge the other's reaction.

The Sandwing's mouth hung open in pure and utter shock.

"Qibli…" Winter began.

Maybe it was the change in their positions.

Maybe it was the way Winter had said his name, softly, delicately, but urgently, hoping for another taste of his mouth…

Maybe it was the cool night breeze, whizzing almost silently through the trees.

Maybe it was the moons.

Maybe it was the look Winter knew was in his eyes.

That mix of desperation, of shock and fear and just a _smidge_ of hope and deep, deep sorrow mixing together to create a entirely new miserable beast that swum just under the surface of those stormy, dark blue oceans.

Maybe it was him.

Just Winter.

Nothing else.

It seemed to be just Winter a lot these days.

Qibli quickly pushed him away, scrambling to his feet as realisation dawned upon him.

"Wh- what was that?" the Sandwing asked, almost unable to form full sentences. "Winter, what the fuck _was_ that?"

Winter wasn't able to answer him.

Instead, he rolled onto his back, closing his eyes as he inhaled. Quietly, he licked his lips.

They still tasted of warm citrus. Of _him._

"Winter… oh god, Winter, me and Moon-"

"I know." he responded, knowing that those two words would break him.

Not the Sandwing.

Him.

"Go to her." he whispered, not daring to crack open his eyes. "This… I made a mistake."

"Winter-" Qibli began, before stopping, realising that no words could describe what had just happened here.

Winter didn't respond.

And he was sure that, given a few more minutes, he would've broken. He would undoubtedly either have broken into tears, or shredded more of his skin, or even have tried to make it to the cliff they were still camped near and thrown himself _off-_

Or he would've given in to those new feelings.

They thrashed inside him, angry at being restrained. At being denied another taste of that sweet, forbidden fruit…

Lust.

He knew the feeling. He had struggled with it for that one horrendous month that he'd been alone. He'd violated Moon's memory almost every night because of his lust.

He'd almost taken his own life.

Except… it wasn't just lust.

And he would remember his exact thoughts later that night, as he delicately dug his talons into his own skin; not for fear of his own safety, but only so that _they_ wouldn't worry.

It was never just lust.

The feelings he had for Moon went far, far beyond lust. And in these days, all the time he'd spent with Qibli, all the time the Sandwing had dedicated to constantly help him, all the affection he had showered upon the Icewing…

And the final straw.

The feeling of being understood.

…

The lord knew that Winter would never say those three words aloud.

Or hell, even the one. Just that one word, the word resting on the tip of his tongue, that begged to be released from his chest, to soar through the air…

He refused to say it.

That would make the feelings far, far too real.

Because they weren't just lust.

They were never just lust.

And whatever they were, he felt them for both Qibli and Moon.

For _them._

And the feelings thrashed and slobbered, hungry for another taste of those hot, tangy lips, for the feeling of strong talons gripping him as he _shattered_ , for the feeling of being understood-

He recognised every single thing he felt.

And yet he was too stupid to _fucking_ do anything about it.

"Qibli, go."

Qibli wouldn't listen. Of course he wouldn't. Winter could almost imagine the look the Sandwing had on his face right now- confusion, a bit of apprehension, disgust _no, please don't let there be disgust;_ but above all, worry.

He wouldn't leave Winter in this state.

That was one of the reasons Winter lo-

 _No._

"I'm sorry." the Icewing whispered. And he was. And, like he'd said before- the conversation would've broken him. Utterly destroyed him, if it were to go on.

If not for…

A soft sob echoed across the camp. And suddenly, everything that had just transpired between the two of them didn't matter _at fucking all_.

He whipped his head to the side, almost as quickly as Qibli did, towards the figure, softly illuminated by the moonlight.

Moon was in the middle of the clearing, curled up in the foetal position, shaking as she cried softly. Even from here, Winter could tell that her eyes were closed. She… was probably having a bad dream or something.

And he knew that he couldn't help her.

But he knew who could.

"Winter-" Qibli began again.

"Go. Just fucking go. Please. Help her."

Qibli hesitated one last time, turning to look at Winter with eyes that for some reason made his heart beat faster, and made him feel… different, in ways that only Moon could before.

Then the Sandwing walked over to her, and gently shook her awake.

At this point, Winter had closed his eyes, and had turned away from the… from _them._ But he couldn't help but listen in to their conversation…

"Qibli…" Moon whispered hoarsely, presumably looking up at the Sandwing. "Wha…"

"You were crying in your sleep." he said. "I… I was worried."

Silence, for a while. Then…

"Qibli, I'm sorry, I'm _so_ sorry…"

"Sssssh." the Sandwing soothed her, and he could hear slight rustling sounds from behind him. "No, it's fine, I was out of line…"

Moon drew a ragged breath. "I… I can still see the bruise I left when I hit you! I-"

She was wracked by another round of sobs, and though Winter was trying to ignore them… he couldn't. Not when a person he lov- a person he cared for was in such apparent _pain._

He rolled over, and stumbled to where Qibli was holding Moon. Crunching some fallen leaves, feet dragging through the grass, he dropped to his knees next to _them,_ and closed his eyes, preparing himself- to tell her that this wasn't her fault, that she shouldn't feel guilty…

Suddenly, he felt a talon on his snout. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find Moon looking back, the stars reflected in her teary eyes. The last time her talons had been this close to his snout…

She slowly stroked the red lines she had left across his nose as her lips trembled, and her eyes began to water again. Squeezing them shut, she inhaled.

 _Like me._ That horrendous, rebellious voice spoke from inside his head. _She's doing it exactly like I do it._

"I… I understand if you… if you two can't forgive me…"

She bit into a claw on her other talon as a particularly violent guilt-ridden shudder shook her whole form, and it took all Winter had to stop himself from kissing her right there and then-

Another sob, and Qibli was holding her, pressing his forehead to hers, and it took Winter a moment to even realise that her talon was still stroking his wounds, claws delicately running over the angry ridges…

And he felt sick.

Again.

Because the thought at the forefront of his mind was that she cared for him too.

And nothing about the pain she was feeling.

He couldn't even care enough about her to put his own thoughts aside.

To put his own feelings aside.

Two pairs of teary eyes, two ragged intakes of air-

"…I'm sorry."

…

He and Moon had said it at the same time.

…

Qibli was the first to speak afterwards. Running his talons down his face, the claws rustling against each other, as he breathed-

 _Like I do!_ the voice spoke again, and Winter was certain that if- if _they_ hadn't been there, he would've driven his talons into his own eyes, in a desperate attempt to make the thoughts _stop-_

"I… forgive you. Both. For everything, alright? Everything. And Winter… the things I said, and… other things I did… for what it's worth I'm sorry too."

And Winter had collapsed into shaky, unsteady tears.

And they had held him.

Because what else could they do?

…

They hadn't spoken much after that.

Just curled up together, preparing for sleep.

And Winter had watched as Qibli kissed the irritated scales underneath Moon's red eyes where she'd tried to rub away tears…

And Moon had helped Winter sleep by whispering a soft song into his ear when he couldn't sleep; soft, clearly-enunciated syllables rolling over one other, each one in perfect harmony, creating the sweetest of lullabies…

And Qibli had helped Winter by just… being there, the Sandwing's warm breath sending shivers of delight down his spine, that tawny snout just inches away from his own…

…it had distracted him from his own mind.

Day by day.

That was how he dealt with them.

One day.

And another.

And then another.

That was how he dealt with his feelings.

And though he didn't know it yet, it was how _they_ dealt with their feelings too.

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Wow, that just happened.**

 **So, turns out the massive drop in writing quality between chapters 18 and 19 is because I was too well rested. No joke. I wrote that Winter scene at two in the morning over three days and that's _waay_ better than the shit I put out last week.**

 **Speaking of that Winter scene, sorry Blackberry, but this is just the way this story's gonna go now. If it makes it any better, all subsequent makeout scenes will be kinda like threesomes? IDK. As for the other ships… yyyeahhh. Sorry again.**

 **Also, I was planning for Qinterwatcher to be in this update, but nah, it'll have to wait until the next one. Would've screwed up the pacing otherwise.**

 **Also, for the record, that entire scene with Winter was real as fuck. I don't think I've ever articulated my own insecurities more clearly. EVER. And now I'm gonna post this on the internet.**

 **This story is gonna be a treasure trove for my future therapist.**

 **Toodles!**

 **PS: Does anybody here end up so sleep deprived and tired that they read their own writing and don't recognise it?**


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 **A/N: 50 reviews! Finally!**

 **Apologies for being absent for so long; I was planning to update last week, but then I found out about Writers of the Future, and decided I was going to write a massive story in eight days, which was a nightmare. Regardless, this is gonna be interesting…**

 **Also, I have a weird knack for giving my characters names that Tui T. Sutherland gives her characters too. For instance, I named a character Blue. Later, I found out that Blue was the protagonist of the first book on the lost continent. And a year ago, I named a scavenger (the one the yellow-tinted dragon has a crush on) Rosie. And I just found out that the main character of one of the upcoming Legends books is going to be a scavenger named Rose. What.**

 **~Speaking of stuff I should've seen coming…~**

…sometimes, Blue wondered what Green was thinking.

Whatever was going on inside that wonderful mind of hers.

He supposed he'd never know.

And he was content with not knowing.

Content with forgetting how to breathe each time he took in her emerald scales, her bright eyes, her wonderful smile…

Content with following her wherever she went, no matter what she did…

He had loved her for a long time.

He could barely even remember how long.

He still remembered the first time he'd met her…

 _The memory was hazy, it had been so far back. The most he could remember about the setting was that it was in one of the Lightwing caves. The systems of caverns were not unlike those at Jade Mountain, in fact. He had been not more than five when he'd seen her, hunched over a desk, staring at some paper._

" _What are you doing?" Blue asked, leaning over and trying to glance at the odd symbols the green dragon was looking at._

" _Reading!" she replied, excitedly holding up the sheet. "The… little… strawberry…"_

" _You can do that?" he asked in awe._

" _You can't?"_

 _He deflated. "I haven't learned yet."_

" _Oh, that's alright!" she laughed. "I only know because my parents taught me!"_

 _A pause._

"… _I don't have parents either." Blue replied. "Or friends, for that matter."_

" _Oh."_

 _A long, uncomfortable silence._

"… _I could be your friend if you wanted me to." she mentioned._

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah!" she stuck out her talon for him to shake. "I'm Green!"_

" _I'm Blue!" he agreed, taking her talon._

He almost giggled, remembering the innocence of that conversation. He had never known who his parents were- he had simply been left with a group of Lightwing trainers at a young age. And though they took care of him and all… it was clear that they didn't consider him family.

Still, Green had been there for him. It had only taken a few weeks for them to become almost completely inseparable. They would do everything together- fight, learn, train…

He still remembered the first time he had used his powers around her. Before that, all he had done had been trying out a few techniques around trainers who were adept in his specific form of magic. Green had already basically mastered her powers- that, he supposed, was one advantage to having parents- but she was eager to help him out.

" _Imagine your mind as a rock."_

" _What?"_

" _Like a rock. That you can sculpt and stuff."_

"… _alright."_

" _Now, imagine yourself picking up someone else's rock, tossing it to the side, and replacing it with your own rock."_

"… _are you just making this up as you go along?"_

 _Green giggled, shoving his shoulder. "Of course I am! Doesn't mean I'm not right."_

" _Alright." Blue ventured, his nervousness subsiding slightly. "Once more- are you sure you're fine with me doing this?"_

" _You're my best friend!" Green replied. "Why wouldn't I be fine with you taking over my body with your weird power thingies?"_

" _OK." he inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, attuning himself to the lush jungle around them. Crickets chirped, birds sang, and a tarantula slowly crawled onto his back._

 _As he had practised a million times before, he flung his eyes open, and concentrated hard. Unlike most of his trainers, Green didn't put up a fight, and so it was only a second later that he saw his own body slowly collapse to the ground, unconscious._

 _He looked at his now-bright green talons, smiling slightly. Then he looked back at his own body, leaping into it without a moment's hesitation._

 _Green inhaled deeply, her eyes blurring for a second._

" _Lord, that felt weird." she began, rubbing her head. "It was like… I was suddenly dreaming? I don't know."_

" _I did it." Blue grinned, and Green couldn't help but grin too._

" _You did!" she gushed, pumping her fists in the air. "Three cheers for you! Hip, hip, hooray!"_

 _He laughed._

…

It had continued like that for a long, long time.

But of course, the second puberty hit, things began changing very, very quickly.

They'd begun dating on his thirteenth birthday.

It had been maybe the happiest day of his life.

There had been a massive party, where he had finally managed to show off his abilities, and there had been cake, and everybody was happy and smiling…

But the most important thing had been Green.

It always was.

When Green had walked over to him, and kissed him on the cheek before wishing him a happy birthday…

He'd fainted.

He still remembered waking up afterwards; hazy, disoriented, and with a dry mouth. Her parents stood over him, clearly trying not to laugh. They told him that Green was waiting for him on the roof.

And had that been fun.

…

 _He dragged himself out of the hatch in the ceiling, grunting. The sun had set a long time ago- he had been out for a while._

 _Sitting on the edge of the roof was..._

 _Green._

 _The moonlight reflected off her scales, making her look almost ethereal. As he finally scrambled onto the roof, she turned her head to the side, looking at him out of her left eye. A grin crept onto her face._

" _What's up, sleepyhead?"_

 _He groaned. "Could you not bring that up?"_

 _She laughed delicately, walking over to where he stood. "Lighten up, man!"_

 _He smacked her shoulder softly, a grin creeping onto his face. "Props to you for being maybe the first person_ ever _to make someone faint of happiness."_

 _At this Green smiled too, a bashful, blushing affair._

" _Speaking of which," Blue began, moving closer to her. "I never gave you a proper answer."_

"… _and?"_

" _Yes!" he exclaimed, taking her in his arms and pulling her across the roof. "Of course! Did you even need to ask?"_

" _I'm cursed with a disbelieving mind, Blue!" she responded, trying to cover up her obvious relief. "Besides, I… I just wanted you to say it."_

" _Well, I'll say it again." he stopped, and observed her emerald eyes. They lit up in the light of the three moons._

" _I love you, Green. And that won't ever change."_

 _She'd smiled, and hugged him tighter. Because honestly, there was nothing more to be said._

He sighed softly, almost every single detail about that night embedded into his mind.

There was only one other day that he remembered that vividly…

It was fitting. That he should remember both the best day of his life…

…and the worst.

 _The noise._

 _Good lord, the noise._

 _Echoing through the caverns as he desperately sprinted through them, trying to find somebody,_ anybody _who would be willing to help him._

 _Screams that were abruptly cut off. The_ shink _of metal as it cut through the air. Explosions booming in the distance, the vibrations shaking the rock around him, causing dust to trickle down from the ceiling._

 _The Silverwing attack had begun half an hour ago. He'd been woken up by shouting, and the sounds of war. It was the middle of the night, so of course, barely anybody was awake. And to make matters worse, for some reason, none of their powers were working on the Silverwings._

 _He knew he had to get out. But he couldn't leave._

 _Because he still had to find Green._

 _He'd searched everywhere she was likely to be. All their favourite haunts inside the caverns, her entire home, the homes of most of their collective friends…_

 _He couldn't find her._

 _And he was terrified._

" _Green!" he shouted down a long hallway, hoping for an answer._

 _There was a sudden silence, and then the clanking of armour as soldiers suddenly burst out of hiding and began charging towards him._

" _Fuck!"_

 _He bolted, running as fast as he possibly could. And even as he turned the next corner, he realised that there was no way he would be able to advance further._

 _Silverwings littered the hallway, along with dozens of other Lightwings. Their bodies were limp, unmoving. Blue took a step back, but his talon slipped in something sticky. Slowly, he held it up to his snout._

 _It was blood._

 _He retched, the stench of it filling his nostrils and weighing down his lungs._

Green…

 _He ran._

 _He ran as fast and as hard as he could, away from that wretched cavern. His vision blurred with tears._

 _He knew._

 _They were gone._

 _They were all gone._

 _He burst out of one of the caves just in time hear a massive explosion from inside the caverns. Quickly, he turned to see-_

 _-a massive fireball advancing down the hallway. Before he could throw himself out of the way, it hit him._

 _He'd never felt anything like it in his life._

 _Before the main fireball came a cloud of shrapnel; bits of rock and dust travelling at supersonic speeds that dug right into his scales. Instinctively, he shut his eyes just before one of the larger stones sliced him across his right cheek, stopping just under his right eye. And before he could react to any of these, the fireball impacted._

 _The shockwave blew him backwards, right off the mountainside. Along with that, the fire singed the front of his face and his body to the point where everything smarted. He opened his mouth to scream-_

 _-and impacted the rock with a sickening crunch._

 _Slowly, the sound stopped ringing in his ears, and the pain set in._

" _Aargh!"_

 _He grunted as he tried to put weight onto his left talon, but realised immediately that it was broken. Judging by the deliberating pain in his chest, he was pretty sure a few of his ribs were too. Slowly, he reached out his right talon, only to touch a slick, sharp object._

 _He opened his eyes._

 _It was one of his scales._

 _Delicately, he touched a tender area under his right eye, and winced. Not only had the shrapnel shredded his face, it had also dislodged one of the scales from under his eyes._

 _Carefully, he slotted it back into place, and tried to lift himself onto his feet._

 _He couldn't._

 _So, ignoring the aching pain, he dragged himself along the rock. He knew he had to get to the treeline soon- if the Silverwings had blown up the caverns to get rid of all the Lightwings, he could be pretty sure they would perform some aerial reconnaissance too._

 _Besides, he couldn't dwell on what had happened to his family._

 _To Green…_

 _He choked back a sob, before continuing to drag himself along._

 _After a painful few minutes, he was considerably closer to the treeline. He dragged himself over the ridge slowly, trying not to slice open his underbelly. From here to there it was only a few more feet…_

"… _Blue?" a voice behind him croaked._

 _He stopped._

 _He knew that voice._

" _Green?"_

 _Slowly, he turned to face her, and-_

Oh lord.

 _She was trapped underneath a massive mound of rubble, most of which was resting atop her hind leg. There were cuts and bruises all over her lithe body. Her eyes were teary._

"… _they're all gone, aren't they?" she asked._

 _He didn't trust himself to answer._

 _Instead, he dragged himself over to where she lay, and began slowly removing the rocks. From the way that her leg was twisted, it was utterly clear to him that she would never be able to use it again._

"… _Green, I am so sorry-"_

" _Don't." she interrupted. "Don't blame yourself."_

 _He nodded, trying to ignore the tears building up behind his eyes, and continued digging. Eventually, he had removed enough rocks that he was confident he could simply drag her out._

" _Alright. This is going to hurt. A lot."_

 _Green nodded. "Just pass me a small branch or something."_

 _He looked around, and noticed a small clump of moss nearby. He passed it to her, and she placed it between her teeth._

" _Go." she said, her voice muffled._

 _He pulled, and she screamed, biting down on the moss hard enough that her teeth went clean through it and almost punctured her gums. The remaining rocks cascaded down, but none of them landed them._

 _Green was breathing hard, tears falling from her eyes. She spat out the moss to reveal her bloody mouth, and wailed._

" _Green, are you-"_

" _I'm fine." she exhaled, and put her talon over her mouth to avoid retching. "Pass me something more solid this time."_

 _He dragged himself closer to the treeline, and found a branch that had fallen off a tree. He passed it back to her, and then began dragging her into the forest._

 _Every single one of her screams seemed to rip him in half, and sometimes he begged for her to let him stop, and help her. Each time, though, she refused, maintaining that she could handle it._

 _An excruciating amount of time later, they found themselves under the trees, finally safe. Green extracted her teeth from the branch and spat out a wad of blood-infused saliva as Blue dragged himself about ten feet further to reach the stream that ran through the woods; a tributary of the nearby river. He drank from it, the cold water making his lungs ache, and then collected some in a large leaf to bring back to Green._

 _As he made his way back to her, he found that she had turned back to look at the caverns. Or rather, whatever was left of the caverns. Each one of the openings had scorch marks around them, and smoke still rose out of a few._

 _They were gone._

 _All gone._

"… _they told us we'd be safe." she said simply._

 _He made her drink the water. She didn't protest._

 _And then they'd clung to each other desperately, and wept._

…

It had been utterly horrifying.

Of course, they'd slowly healed. It had taken Green a long time to become used to walking without the support of one of her legs, but it had become much easier once Blue had managed to sneak into a Silverwing settlement and convince a smith to make a brace for her size. It had been… a complex operation, to say the least.

And, of course, the journey over the sea had been a complete nightmare. But once they were in Pyrrhia, and especially once they'd found out about Jade Mountain…

…things had gotten better.

"…Blue?" Green asked.

He glanced down at her form, almost ethereal in the early-morning sunlight.

And smiled.

"Good morning."

He wouldn't trade this for the world.

 **~and now, new pov~**

It was storming outside.

The wind howled as the trees lashed backwards and forth, flinging their branches out into the gloomy sky.

Inside the cave, however, things were quiet.

The yellow-tinted dragon was still working on a small document set on his table. Next to him rested a tiny scavenger.

Silence, broken only by slight scribbling.

"…what changed your mind?"

"About what?"

"About… y'know, the…"

The dragon sighed, turning to the scavenger seated next to him.

"You mean the forgotten ones, don't you?"

A pause.

"…yeah. What made you finally stop cooperating with them?"

He sighed, scratching behind his ear as he pondered how he should answer the question.

"I saw… an atrocity. Right before my eyes. An… an entire colony of my own species- maybe the last stronghold on the surface- completely wiped out. Ruthlessly."

He sighed deeply, remembering…

"All because I had given the Silverwings the secret to counter the Lightwings. I was acting on orders from the forgotten ones, of course. Except…"

He dug his talons into the rough birch of his writing desk. The candlelight, he was sure, was gracefully illuminating the scowl on his face.

"…those bastards weren't supposed to kill them. They were supposed to take them prisoner."

A pause. Outside, the patter of rain increased.

"I left immediately." he continued. "Fled across the ocean, and found this place. And then I found Rosie. And then I found you. And then, after months of guilt, I found a new purpose…"

Another, longer pause as the dragon remembered how he'd felt, seeing the utter destruction laid out before him, knowing that he was the reason this was happening.

"…to take those motherfuckers down. Or die trying."


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 _Trigger warnings: mentions of severe depression._

 **By the way, Butterflies, a Darkstalker AU I'm also writing, has just moved into part 2. Check it out if you want!**

 **~the pros and cons of breathing by FOB- line 8~**

 _Noise…_

 _Threatening…_

 _Weeping…_

 _It rolled over the yellow-brown dunes; broiling and seething before hitting her right on, almost searing the skin off her face._

 _It hurt._

 _The sun shone down upon them, cooking the air to a blistering temperature. In the distance, mirages shimmered violently- a testament to the immense heat._

 _Onyx panted, her snout digging into the sand as she hit the ground hard._

 _Thorn towered over her, a sneer on her face, and fury in her eyes._

" _Get up."_

 _Onyx gasped as the Sandwing Queen's talons sunk into the flesh around her spine, forcefully yanking her to her feet with a burst of pure_ pain-

 _She was thrown almost halfway across the arena. As she skidded to a stop, sand in her eyes and clogging her mouth, she saw the hazy outline of Thorn moving, almost lazily, towards her._

" _Get up, you_ pathetic _weakling."_

" _I'm not a weakling!" Onyx screamed, ignoring the hurt- both physical and mental- as she staggered to her feet and charged towards Thorn, who casually sidestepped, and swiped a claw all along her underside, causing her to once more faceplant in the sand._

" _You're a pitiful little bitch." Thorn continued. "A worthless sack of skin."_

 _She sauntered over, and suddenly thrust her talons into the side of Onyx's throat._

" _I thought you were worth it, you know?"_

 _The claws were suddenly thrust deeper, and Onyx could feel them impacting bone. The pain was mind boggling._

" _I thought it was worth it. Teaching you. Helping you."_

 _Thorn slowly dragged her claws sideways, opening massive incisions that spluttered blood._

" _Guess I was wrong."_

 _She retracted her talons, letting her bleed out._

" _You couldn't even save Smoulder, you stupid, useless girl."_

 _Onyx coughed, a metallic liquid coating the inside of her mouth, but didn't fight back. Because Thorn was right. She could blame it on her leg, or on her injuries, or on her missing eye…_

 _But she had failed._

 _She was the reason that Smoulder was dead._

 _And as the life faded from her, and she felt her pulse slow, she looked up at Thorn, and choked out…_

"… _you'll never hate me half as much as I hate myself."_

 _She closed her eyes, and let death take her._

…

…

…

Onyx lay curled up in a corner of her cell, watching the blood drip from her arm.

It impacted the ice below it in weird and wonderful ways- sometimes, it splattered across a massive surface. Sometimes, it simply formed a tiny dome which rapidly froze over. Sometimes, it never made it to the ground.

After her nightmare, she had been in… what she could only describe as a daze. Disoriented, exhausted, hazy... unable to make out clear shapes, or signs, or other people.

Or move.

All she knew was that she was cold.

So, _so very_ fucking cold.

Eventually, a shape had materialised out of thin air, and snapped something onto her arm that didn't make her feel cold anymore. Then a few other shapes had appeared, and they had hosted her up, and slid cold, metal chains onto her arms and legs, wrapping the excess around her torso for good measure.

She could probably guess why.

There were moments; moments of clarity when she realised how broken, how useless, how _pathetic_ she was.

And then there were moments where the pain would get the better of her, and she would retreat inside her own mind.

To suffer.

The pain was constant.

This was a moment of clarity. But she could feel it… her mind, rearing and screaming and she _knew,_ she knew that soon it would be over.

Slowly, a gate creaked open, and Onyx sighed. She didn't move, or open her eyes.

Just lay there.

A dragon from the other end of the cell cleared her throat.

"Ummm, hello again, Onyx." she said.

No response.

"….you must be asleep."

The new dragon wearily closed the gate, and slumped to the ground.

"I'm Snowfall, new queen of the Icewings." she began. "But you knew that."

Silence.

"I… get lonely. And you're here, which means I can rant to you about my day."

She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, but wanting to see this through.

"Today a group of orphans showed up. Two tiny twin dragonets, no older than four, a newborn, and a ten-year-old."

She sighed.

"The ten-year-old was the only one who could speak. He told me that they had a family, but that they had been killed in the riots after Darkstalker's plague."

A pause, as Snowfall struggled to collect herself.

"They… had an elder brother too. He… he tried to seek asylum with a group of dragons in a higher circle than him."

Without warning, she punched one of the walls of the cavern, breathing hard, rage in her eyes.

"…they killed him. In front of his ten-year-old brother, who then ran away, and eventually ended up coming to me."

She ran a talon down her face. "What kind of sick _fuck_ does that?"

Onyx remained silent.

"…I never had any brothers." Snowfall admitted. "One sister, but she was content to leave me dealing with this mess on my own. Granted, I fucking treated her like _shit-"_

Snowfall paused, breathing hard.

"…the kid was crying. The entire time. And… I couldn't do anything to help him, either!"

A pause. A droplet of blood hit the icy floor, and a tiny bit fizzed.

"Neptune has a sister. He would… he would bring down the moons for her. He… he would die for her. I… never got to feel that."

Another pause.

"I tried to pass some laws that would abolish the ring system, as well as all discrimination based on it. The fucking royals called me a petty fool for it. Said it was just because I had found a lower circle boyfriend. They don't understand…"

She turned, and Onyx suddenly realised how red her eyes were.

"People are dying out there. _My_ people. And I can't do anything to help them, and… I've never felt so helpless in my life."

She slumped down, putting her head in her arms.

"…sometimes I wish I was still that arrogant, stuck up bitch I was before Glacier died. Before I was forced to come to terms with myself. Before I had to face the music, and become a better person. It's selfish, and it's shitty, but sometimes… sometimes I just want to not know."

Silence.

Deafening, almost.

There was pain in those unspoken words.

…

"…I'm sorry." Onyx said.

Snowfall appeared unsurprised that the Sandwing was awake. "Why? It wasn't your fault."

"…that shouldn't change the fact that I wish I could do more than lie here, being pathetic and useless and a piece _of-"_

A sudden jolt of pain wracked her body, and she gasped deeply.

Snowfall's head snapped up. "Are you alright?"

The pain faded, leaving only a throbbing, dull ache.

"Yeah." Onyx responded as her mind began to cloud over. "I just… think…"

Snowfall sighed.

"Goodbye… Onyx."

She got up, and left.

Behind her, Onyx thrashed in her bindings.

And screamed.

 **~ah, cribbling depression~**

Because of course it would.

Of course, all the pain, all the hurt, and all the regret would hit her today.

It was like a whirlpool that pulled her under the surface before she even knew what was happening.

It didn't matter if she screamed, or flailed, or even held her breath.

She was going under.

And she hadn't even opened her eyes yet.

Slowly, she cracked an eyelid open, looking out at their bleary, dull surroundings.

The grass was wet with morning dew. It dripped from the trees surrounding their camp, and the rocks piled up off to one side. The grass was well worn, since that they hadn't moved from here in the past two days.

Winter lay under her, his expression… hard to place. Guilt, maybe. Misery, most assuredly. Hope, none. Next to him was Qibli, who-

She forced her eyes shut as a spike of pain rammed into her mind, and it took all she had to not gasp. It… it _hurt so much, and-_

"Moon?" Winter asked softly, shifting slightly underneath her. His cool scales brushed against her underbelly, sending shivers all the way up her spine.

 _No._

 _She… she shouldn't be feeling this way._

"Yeah?" she rasped, suddenly very aware of how loud her voice was.

"…are you alright?"

She barked out a laugh at that, setting her head down on her crossed arms. "I should be asking you that question."

Winter sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry." he admitted.

Normally, Moon would've told him he had nothing to be sorry for. That he was a good person. That he should let his actions speak for his character, and not his thoughts.

After yesterday, though…

After everything she had done; to both him and Qibli.

Did she deserve to call herself a good person?

 _No._

"…I'm sorry too." she replied.

 **~soldier~**

Qibli was awake.

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, mind you. He was still lying next to Winter, his torso trapped underneath Moon's wing.

Yet he felt cold.

Ever since he had been a small child, waiting for his mother to finish her work and tell her that she loved him, he had become pretty good at feigning sleep.

So of course, he heard Moon talking to Winter in those hoarse, broken tones.

And he wished that he could leap up from the wet earth, and take her in his arms, and _hold her…_

But did he have the right to?

…

He had kissed Winter.

God _fucking_ damnit, he had kissed Winter.

And he had liked it.

Winter. The arrogant prince of the Icewings, a person who had abused and insulted him on multiple occasions. The same person who had once accused Moon of stealing his scavenger to eat it.

He almost laughed.

How he wished that he could go back to those days.

But of course, things had changed. Winter among them. He had gone from being a jerk to being his friend; and then to a lovesick loner who both Moon and he had just assumed was sulking in the mountains…

To this.

Whatever this was.

He almost laughed, because he remembered everything that he had done.

He remembered every word he had said to the Icewing, when he had been utterly terrified out of his mind.

Not that that was an excuse.

"… _you would betray everything you've built with Moon! Everything you've built with me! Why? Because you can't live without the fucking pain?"_

He winced.

Because the same could be said of him.

He'd betrayed Moon by kissing Winter. He'd cheated on her, essentially. And he'd taken advantage of Winter while he was vulnerable, and unable to make rational decisions.

…what kind of a monster had he become?

He wouldn't have understood otherwise.

That was how he justified the things that he had done.

Sure, it was fucked. Sure, he hated himself _so_ much for it. But he knew that if he dwelled on the things he had said to Winter, or even considered them to be anything close to his true feelings…

He would break.

Just as Winter had, countless times before.

And the only way he could save himself from that same fate was to justify his actions. To claim that otherwise, he wouldn't have understood what Winter was going through.

Wouldn't have been able to help him.

But how was he helping Winter right now?

…

Moon slapping him had been an eye-opener.

It had been the moment he'd realised that he'd gone too far, and that he shouldn't have done the things that he had. It had been the moment that his rage had abandoned him, to be replaced with a deep, unfathomable shame.

But the flinch.

Oh god, the flinch.

The flinch had been the moment that something deep inside of him had broken. It had been the moment that he'd realised the true meaning and magnitude of everything he'd done.

Afterwards…

He hadn't cried.

Growing up with a family like his, chances were that if he'd cried about something, he would've been abandoned to fend for himself.

But later that night, when Moon had finally fallen asleep, not trusting herself to be around him, he had allowed his emotions to bubble to the surface. And he'd considered everything he'd felt when Winter had flinched away from his outstretched hand.

He'd felt like taking the Icewing's talon and raking it across his own face.

Because that way it would've been fair.

And _that_ was what had made him break down, to crawl over to Winter and tell him everything, and that he understood now.

The feeling had been there all along, he realised now. The desire to _hurt,_ in order to get back at himself. He'd just ignored it.

And the instant he'd been alone with Winter, he'd turned into the demon he so utterly despised.

He almost respected Winter for that.

In the past month, the Icewing had tried his hardest not to say anything vengeful, or instigative, or hurtful. He was so incredibly passionate, and loving, and caring…

And that was why Winter self-harmed.

Because the only person he was careless with was himself.

The only person he was comfortable with hurting was himself.

And Qibli had waltzed over to him, at night, emotions raging, all that desire to hurt simmering to the surface.

He'd wanted to apologise.

And what had he done once he was with Winter?

Taken advantage of him, along with cheat on Moon.

And he'd fucking _liked it._

That was the worst part.

He'd liked it.

"Good morning, Qibli." Moon said tiredly.

He blearily lifted his head off the ground, looking at her.

She looked exhausted. The bags under her eyes were apparent, and the red in her eyes made it clear that she hadn't slept well.

He didn't think any of them had.

Winter had left, presumably because he wanted to be alone for a while. He did that sometimes. And he'd promised not to do anything.

 _What good is a promise from him?_ A voice asked, and Qibli found himself hating himself even more.

And as he took in the incredible sadness and regret in Moon's eyes, he realised.

He couldn't hide anything from her.

"…I'm sorry, Moon. I know nothing's going to make up for this. But I'm sorry."

And he removed his Starfire.

And she saw everything.

…

The worst part was that she didn't even look surprised. Or even shift. Her expression barely changed. It was still tired, and bleary, and barely keeping it together.

"…I'm sorry too, Qibli." she responded finally, before getting up, and walking away.

And for the first time in almost a week, he was alone.

And he wept.

 **~poet~**

Tired.

That was basically all he felt.

Just, a deep, unutterable exhaustion with the world around him.

Fucking tired.

Hopeless.

…

He had watched them from afar.

Watched as Qibli "woke" up, struggled with whatever he was thinking, and finally dropped the Starfire.

He'd seen the look on Moon's face as she walked away.

She couldn't blame him.

Winter knew that.

She wouldn't be able to. And she shouldn't, honestly. Winter had been the idiot who had initiated contact.

 _Stupid, stupid, idiotic piece of_ shit-

He slowly got up from where he sat, and followed Moon deeper into the woods.

…

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked her as he came to a stop next to her, sitting as she was on the edge of a cliff. It overlooked a massive valley that lay sprawled out over what must've been hundreds of acres. The sunlight cast intricate labyrinths of shadow and light, that danced across shade-dappled trees and streams of indigo; that ran over boulders and thin columns of barely-visible smoke; and bounced until they came to a rest on her still somehow radiant face.

For a second, he was speechless.

 _You're a sleazy piece of shit, you know._

"It is." she agreed, her exhaustion coming through in her voice. "Though, that's only until you see what's going on below the surface.

He padded a bit, flattening some of the long, reedy grass until he could comfortably sit next to her. Not that he deserved that comfort, anyhow. "Do enlighten me."

She grinned a bit, and for a second she transformed into the Moonwatcher he'd known before his idiotic attempt- the one who simply wanted to learn about the world, and help people along the way.

He'd changed her.

And he doubted he would ever forgive himself for that.

"See that smoke?"

He had already noticed it, but squinted just to get a clearer view. "Yes?"

"Those are caused by fires the dragons who farm here light." she continued with the impeccable self-confidence of someone who had written the book on agriculture in the sky kingdom. "They do it for two reasons- to destroy the stubble and roots that are left over after they finish the year's harvest, and to fertilize the land- since the ashes from the plants act as fertilizer."

He considered this for a moment. "Seems like a win-win. What's the problem?"

She smiled sadly. "It isn't sustainable. In three or four years, the land will be completely depleted. They'll have to abandon it all, and move elsewhere."

"Hunh." he said, looking back at the valley. He couldn't deny that he now saw it in a different light.

He shifted slightly, grass prickling at his underbelly.

Next to him, she sighed.

"I don't blame you, you know."

He was almost surprised.

"Except you should."

"I don't, Winter. And I don't blame Qibli either."

"…please don't fucking tell me you blame yourself."

"I _hit_ him, Winter. I know that he was saying really bad things to you, but I _hit_ him. And you too, for that matter. You should not be on my side here."

Winter closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

"Well, I am. Because I'm the one that kissed him in the first place."

"Because you weren't thinking straight, alright?"

"That doesn't change the fact that I did it."

"Oh, and what- the fact that I fucking slapped him _so_ hard didn't change his opinion in any way?"

He turned to her, ready with a counter argument, but stopped the instant he saw the look on her face.

Windswept cheeks tinted a very slight green, and raised haunches. Her ears were flattened against her skull, and her eyes were teary, with oceans of emotion simmering underneath.

They would boil over at any moment.

"…He worships you, Moon. You've seen the way he acts around you. Do you truly think he'd blame you?"

"Of course not!" she said, her voice almost cracking. "But that's… just because he doesn't understand."

"And neither do I?"

"Yes!"

A pause. Moon closed her eyes for a split second before turning back to Winter.

"Yes. I fucking messed up. You don't think I did anything wrong because, _bingo!_ You're not thinking straight! And yes, Qibli worships me. He puts me on a pedestal. And guess what? I fucking hate it. Do you know why?

"Because being suspended that high… it just gives me more room to fall. To break every single bone in this _miserable_ body the _instant_ I hit the ground."

For the first time _ever,_ Winter saw a deep, bitter rage in her teary eyes.

"I have waited for the day he realises I'm not the angel he thinks I am ever since I met him." she continued, almost oblivious to her tears. "Yesterday, I revealed myself to be a demon. I don't blame him for taking solace in your embrace, or you for entertaining him. I blame myself."

She sighed, and almost seemed to collapse in on herself.

"I- I blame myself for what I did to you two. Ease your mind."

Winter took a deep, long look at her.

"…I won't be able to change your mind about this, will I?"

She laughed, but there was no happiness behind it. "What gave it away?"

"The fact that nothing you just said changed _my_ mind about what I did."

Moon regarded him for a long second.

"…do you love him?"

Winter was taken aback by the question. "Do I what?"

"Do. You. Love him?"

"Well, I-"

"Winter, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Now, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to take your Starfire off?"

Winter almost answered.

He almost told her.

…

"What happened to us, Moon?" he asked.

And with that, she went over the edge.

 **~king~**

He knew now.

God, he hadn't expected it to hurt _so much-_

But it had.

It had raged, it had torn him into tiny pieces, it had finished him.

Because now, he felt nothing but emptiness.

Just, a deep, endless pit of despair.

 _It can't._

 _It can't be like this._

The questions swirled in whatever remained of his brain, catching on the jagged edges of his skull as they flew in endless circles.

 _How did Winter survive this?_

 _Day after day._

 _Morning to night._

 _And then night to morning._

…

He saw the Icewing.

Winter wasn't there, obviously.

But Qibli saw him anyways.

And he remembered feeling those icy scales under his, and pressing his lips _to-_

…he still remembered how they tasted.

He couldn't do this anymore.

The thoughts swirled faster.

His head ached.

It throbbed in time with his pulse, and sent lines of jolting pain into his joints. His mouth felt dry and full of sand, and still he refused to stop crying.

Still.

 _Why does it hurt so fucking much?_

He didn't know.

He wished he did.

Or even better, he wished he'd never become this way in the first place.

He wished he'd never tried-

"Please."

One word.

The only one he could manage before he was, once more, sobbing on the ground.

"…save me."

He retched.

 **~medicine~**

"Don't you _dare,_ Moon."

It was useless.

He knew that look.

The look of pure, utter sorrow, of joy leeched so thoroughly from a creature that there was almost nothing left.

He had done this to her.

He had done this to her.

He had done this to her.

 _He had done this to_ _her-_

"Moon," he said, and the desperation in his voice made her look up, "you know I can't fucking do this. You know I can't help you. Please, _I'm begging you,_ don't do this."

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, _I'm so sorry…"_

She lowered her eyes to the ground, and he wanted nothing more than to hold her _so tight,_ and make her forget everything, and never have to deal with his stupidity anymore…

But that wasn't going to happen.

"Moon, you- you forgive me, right?"

"Is that even a question?"

"No, that- okay, look, you forgive others, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So find it in you to forgive yourself."

"Except it doesn't fucking _work_ like that, Winter. You know that."

"Yes, I know! I just…"

…

"…what should I do, Moon?"

Moon wiped away a few tears, not trusting herself to speak.

"…hold me."

So he did.

For what felt like the longest time.

And he watched her fall apart, hyperaware of every single thing she was doing. He watched the tears fall from her tightly-shut eyes, a few of them snatched away by the quickening wind. He watched as her chest rose and fell, and how her talons slowly rubbed against one another.

They sat like that for what felt like hours.

And they broke together.

…

But all things end.

And so, after an infinite moment had passed, she pulled away from him, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Could… could you find Qibli?"

Silently, he extracted himself from her embrace, and walked back into the forest.

 **~the last stand~**

Qibli heard the footsteps long before he saw Winter.

He felt the bile rise in his stomach before he saw those white scales among the browns and muted greens of the forest; a fortress amongst the tall, tall trees.

"Qibli…"

Haggard.

Exhausted.

Regretful.

All words that could describe the look on the Icewing's face.

Empathetic too.

"…Moon needs you."

He heard the pain in Winter's voice as he uttered those words aloud, hating the fact that Moon still needed Qibli more than she needed him.

Or was it just that?

Was there another reason?

Slowly, Qibli lifted himself from the damp earth, the ground crumbling slightly as the talons that had been digging into it retracted. Above them, the sun was blocked out by a cloud.

He remembered what he'd thought about Moon during the summit.

How she'd been ethereal.

…

That hadn't changed.

It was just that now, seeing Winter, trembling like a leaf but still standing strong, so incredibly hurt and broken and beaten yet still… moving…

The yellow light silhouetted him against the sky. It outlined him, traced each one of his jagged edges; his rough jawline, his ragged spikes, the mess of scars on his arms…

He stepped closer to him, looking every bit the angel Qibli knew him to be, his eyes heavy with concern.

He wondered if they had been hewn from ice.

"…are you alright?"

Shakily, Qibli got to his feet.

"No. But then again, are any of us?"

Winter blinked, and then headed into the forest. Qibli followed, very aware of what had just happened here.

…what a tangle of thorns.

 **~for you~**

"We can't dance around our issues anymore. We can't just pretend that everything is hunky dory. We need to come clean. About everything. _Everything._ Understood?"

Both Qibli and Winter, each seated a reasonable distance away from the other, nodded solemnly.

Moon crossed her arms, very aware of how she looked. Especially since she had just finished crying.

"I'll begin."

She sighed deeply.

"Winter and Qibli. I've been an utterly terrible person for the past few days."

Even as both males opened their mouths, ready to protest, she silenced them with a wave of her hand.

"You'll get your chance to speak." she reminded them. "Besides, I genuinely acted horribly. I… I guess it was because I didn't understand. Any of this. I was… naïve, and horribly unprepared for everything that's happened between the three of us. And I was confused, and just…"

She could feel it. The horrid sensation of tears building behind eyes, of voices becoming increasingly shaky, of blurring vision…

"…I took it out on you two. And I will _forever_ blame myself."

Delicately, she wiped away at a few tears.

Qibli spoke next.

"…I love you."

She gasped.

"I love every single fucking thing about you. I love your eyes, I love your voice, I love the way you walk, I love the way you think, and I can barely take my mind off you."

She closed her eyes, already knowing what was coming next.

"And last night… I don't know if I made a mistake or not. I have no fucking idea how I feel about you, Winter, but there is one thing that I know for sure."

Slowly, he padded over to her, placing his talons over her own.

"I will _never_ stop loving you. No matter what happens. As for what you did… you're not a monster, you're not a demon, you're a person whose made mistakes. That's it."

Moon let out a low, shaky breath.

"T-thank you. Now, Winter."

The wind picked up, throwing the rhythm of the conversation off for just an instant. Winter scratched at his arm nervously, opening his mouth to speak-

"Wait."

Slowly, Qibli walked over to him, a tiny, sad smile on his face. He settled onto the Icewing's back, pressing his cheek against Winter's.

"You didn't leave me alone when you and Moon were talking." he said. "I'm not doing that to you."

Winter smiled, and so did Moon. It was as though a massive weight had suddenly been lifted off her back, and she hadn't even known it was there.

"Seriously, Winter." Qibli said, and suddenly the mood was serious again. "I didn't mean any of the shit I said to you. Honest."

Winter fell silent, not meeting either of their gazes.

"…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I grew obsessed with you, I'm sorry that I put both of you through all of this bullshit, and I'm sorry for pushing the two of you apart because of my dumbassery."

It took actual, physical effort for Moon to keep her mouth shut.

"But I just want to say…"

He rested his head on the ground, closing his eyes and relaxing.

"Thank you. Both of you. For being with me, for never blaming me, for being so, _so kind,_ just… thank you so much."

He choked back a sob before he continued.

"…without the two of you, I wouldn't be here."

Moon held out a hand, lightly touching his talon.

"…you're an amazing person, Winter. Don't _ever_ forget that."

Winter nodded.

"Now, do you mind if the two of us tell you what we think?"

He cracked a small grin. "Go ahead."

Moon opened her mouth to speak, but Qibli beat her to it.

"Every single argument you've made for your own guilt in this matter is bullshit. You had no control over becoming obsessed with Moon, us getting involved had nothing to do with you, and neither did the two of us growing apart."

"But it did!" he said, exasperated.

"No it didn't!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"I kissed you."

All the levity left the conversation.

"I. Kissed you." Winter reiterated. "And I'm sorry for that. I was a fucking idiot for doing it."

"…it wasn't your fault." Qibli began.

"How? I took advantage of you!"

"No, you didn't!"

"Qibli, I know what I did. And… and it was monstrous."

"What?" Qibli asked incredulously.

"I took advantage of you at a vulnerable time, and made you cheat on Moon!"

"Oh, and I'm not to blame for that?" Qibli asked. "I went along with it!"

"Besides, by that fucking logic, I'm a monster for what I did to you two!" Moon said, before suddenly falling silent.

"…I'm coming around to your way of thinking, Winter."

"No!" Qibli protested. "Look, if you're a monster, then- then that makes me a monster too!"

"You're not a monster." Winter and Moon said at almost the same time.

"Except I am! I insulted you, Winter. I hurt you, _so much._ "

"I don't blame you for that, Qibli." Winter mentioned. "You made a mistake. I forgive you."

Qibli laughed. Out loud.

"Don't you see then?"

Both Moon and Winter looked at him expectantly.

"You're not a monster. You're just a person who's made mistakes. We all have. We… we all are."

There was silence, as each one of them processed that information.

"Except you don't know everything..." Winter said.

"What?" Moon asked.

Suddenly, the surroundings were a bit too silent for his liking. It was as if the whole world was waiting for him to admit it…

The object of his shame.

He could tell that if he told Moon that it was nothing, she would believe him, and leave him alone.

But was that what he wanted?

Because he knew, with a deep certainty, that if he didn't admit it right now, he would never be able to say it aloud.

He took a deep breath.

"I think I'm in love with both you and Qibli."

Even though he couldn't see their faces, he could imagine their jaws dropping halfway to the ground. Inhaling deeply, he continued.

"I've known that I loved you for a long time, Moon. But, over the past few days, I…, Qibli… I- I don't know. It's just that every single time I think about the two of you my heart races, and my mouth becomes dry, and my mind just fucking _disappears,_ and I don't know what to do."

He swallowed; his throat suddenly dry.

"And I know that whatever I feel won't be reciprocated. I know that. I just… needed to say it."

Silence.

Every second that it dragged on, he felt his mind slowly fragmenting.

 _They hate you._

 _You don't deserve them._

 _You should've-_

He wasn't even aware that he was crying until he felt a rough, calloused talon wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

"I- I'm sorry," Moon began, voice heavy with emotion, "if I had knew-"

"Don't apologise." he interrupted. "Just…"

His voice caught in his throat, and he could feel himself shaking, trembling like a leaf in the wind. His breaths came more quickly.

"I don't know why I'm like this!"

He blurted it out, unsure of where the words were coming from.

"I- I don't know. And I hate it, and I wish it didn't have to be this way…"

He could almost sense Moon moving closer to him, settling down just inches from his snout.

"Winter, can I be honest?"

He nodded.

A small pause, as Moon delicately ran her talon along his arm.

There was a long period of silence, where he could hear ever single tiny thing. He could hear the rustling of leaves in the wind, the snapping of tiny reeds as Moon readjusted, the hushed, wordless conversation Moon and Qibli were undoubtedly having…

It was as though he could feel their emotions.

As though he knew exactly what they were thinking.

They didn't know.

Except, deep down…

"Do it." Qibli whispered, presumably to Moon.

Silence.

Then the touch of soft, full lips against his, feather-light and hesitant.

He opened his eyes to find her moving backwards, her eyes still closed.

 _What?_

"Moon…"

"I'm not sure how I feel, Winter." she said softly. "Maybe I never will. But, as far as I can tell…"

A pause.

"…after how much you've grown, how much _we've_ changed, how much… we've done…"

There was utter silence in the clearing.

"…I might be in love with you."

He gasped.

"I think I might be too." Qibli said, hugging Winter tighter.

The Icewing's mind was aflutter with emotions. Confusion, dissolving sorrow, maybe…

"Really?" he whispered.

It was as though they knew exactly what he needed.

Because they said it immediately. Without a second of hesitation.

"Yes."

And joy washed over him like ice cold, biting water, washing away the pain, and the rage, and the sorrow of the day…

 _joy_

 _I'd forgotten how it felt._

He didn't even notice the tears until Qibli wiped one away from under his eye.

"Hey, don't cry." Moon soothed, coming closer to him and delicately taking him in her arms.

He laughed.

Out loud.

"I- I don't know!" he said. "I'm just… happy!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, and inhaled shakily.

 _They love me._

 _They love me._

He almost screamed in pure delight, aware of the tears falling from his eyes.

"How is this even going to work?" he giggled, giddy on the feeling of… being accepted. Being loved.

"Don't worry about that!" Qibli retorted, nuzzling his neck "Hey, listen- if _anybody_ can make this work, it's gonna be us three. Got that?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

And as the sun reached its apex in the sky, both the dragons Winter loved so, _so very much,_ held him as he wept.

With utter joy.

 **~reflection~**

The moments after that blurred together. He could barely make out individual faces, or thoughts, or emotions.

It was just…

 _joy_

Winter grinned slightly.

"Anything on your mind?" Qibli asked.

"No, I… just had a thought."

"And pray," Moon began, "what would that thought be?"

He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sunshine on his face.

"We've changed so much… and I don't think I even know who I am anymore. It's… an interesting feeling."

"Do you need a reminder?" Qibli asked.

"I think we all do." Moon responded.

"Alrighty then!" the Sandwing grinned. "This is Moon. She's incredibly smart, amazingly beautiful, and enjoys nothing more than a good scroll or some polite conversation, and I love her."

Moon smiled. "And this is Winter. He's an incredible poet, a beautiful artist, and loves scavengers. He used to think he's alone."

She looked right into his eyes, warmth and affection dancing across her emerald orbs. "I'm sure that now, he thinks not."

Winter laughed softly. "Aaand, this is Qibli. He's loyal to a fault. I'd say more, but… I think I'd end up going on for hours. I love him to bits. And you, Moon."

Her teeth glinted in the sunlight as she giggled. Qibli joined her, arms around Winter as he laughed.

 _joy_

It was amazing.

…

…

…

 **Right, so this is the depressing part of the story completed. Like, seriously. After like 4 months of derailing the plot of this story, I've finally finished this section. This subplot that I began writing only because I was in like the** _ **worst**_ **fucking place emotionally is finally finished, and the characters will move on to do things that relate to the actual plot. Winter is now truly on the path towards healing, and I get to write more Qinterwatcher fluff, which I honestly can't wait to do. As for Onyx, well, *cackles evilly***

 **Seriously though, help.**

 **Leave your thoughts in a review now that Qinterwatcher is finally here! Is it everything you wanted and more? Do you prefer for me to burn in the fiery pits of hell? I won't know until you tell me!**

…

 **I'm anonymous on this site.**

 **It's one of the reasons I love writing here.**

 **And it's why I've decided to confide in you guys. My 14 readers. Give or take a few.**

 **Something will happen tomorrow. One day after I post this. That something will determine… everything, I think. My entire future. My mental well-being. Hell, if my worst fears come true, it could seriously be a deciding factor in whether or not I'm still… here… tomorrow.**

 **It's ironic, me contemplating making it so I'm no longer here despite the fact that I've just spent about 30k words detailing why suicide's a bad idea. Still, the thing that'll happen tomorrow… it's just that important.**

 **I'm not joking.**

 **Everything could change tomorrow. Every. Single. Thing.**

 **But we shouldn't worry about that today.**

 **Till next time, dear readers.**


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 **A/N: Wow, that was utterly horrid. Didn't mean to worry any of you with the last chapter, sorry about that. Also, thanks Blaze and Andrew!**

 **I'm fine.**

 _ **[NARRATOR: He isn't fine.]**_

 **Thanks for the kind words in the reviews and PMs! I haven't responded to a lot of them cuz basically every electronic I own is either being given away or is broken. Also, I'm busy writing like an actual novel.**

 **But thanks! I appreciate it all.**

 **Now.**

 **Let's move on!**

 **Also, remember back when I used to use music cues? Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't (entirely) just a bad fanfiction trope. It was actually because I had one song in mind for a scene I had planned- one that's been floating around since the conception of this story.**

 **Now, obviously this story has developed a life and mind of its own- to the point where that song doesn't actually fit said scene. But none of you are going to listen to it anyways, so who cares. Without further ado…**

 **Kiwi by Harry Styles!**

It was storming outside.

The rain flew in rivulets, scattering across the green, slippery moss; the long, unbroken lines in the rock; and the smooth yet porous limestone. It was raining so hard, in fact, that despite the relative proximity of the sea, it wasn't visible at all.

But today, the sea didn't matter.

What did matter was the river.

It was pretty small- only about seven or eight feet across. It moved lazily, and you couldn't see under the surface of the water- stained brown with peat as it was. It was… idyllic, almost scenic, and the rocks on the other end were close enough that you were almost tempted to jump across the river to them.

For after all, what could possibly go wrong? Worst case scenario, you would end up missing the rocks, and having your fall cushioned by the small stream.

And that was a mistake.

For this was no ordinary river.

It was the strid.

Fifty metres upstream, the river is wide and slow. So how does it suddenly become so narrow while remaining sedentry? Simple. It flips on its side; instead of being slow and shallow, it becomes fast… and _very_ deep.

Therefore, the surface of the water looks calm, but in actuality it is a raging torrent several metres deep- and the rocks on either side… aren't really rocks.

They're overhangs.

Any unsuspecting animal or passerby that gets caught in those waters will find themselves quickly and swiftly beaten against the rocks, and then torn to shreds by the current. And if you somehow get far enough below the surface to avoid the overhangs, you will realise that the remarkable erosive power of the current has smoothened out the bed of the river.

This means that everything is smooth and curvaceous. It also means that there are areas where the water has hollowed out chambers where eddies form, throwing all that the river has trapped to their doom.

The locals steer clear of it. After all, nobody would wish a death in the depths of the strid upon their worst enemies.

But sometimes…

…it has its uses.

For instance, you can use it to prove to your tribe that you are worthy of their respect.

As Cumulus was trying to do today.

He didn't care much for storms, to be honest. He preferred a light drizzle.

But nobody cared about a light drizzle.

Especially not _them._

 _They_ wanted rainstorms that shook the land and made the trees shiver. _They_ wanted massive displays of power that would have most normal people running for the hills.

 _They_ were the elders; gathered around him in their hooded robes, stern eyes commanding him to do their bidding. He hadn't proven himself yet. And if he didn't prove that he was worthy today…

…they would never let him go.

It looked like he had no choice.

So he closed his eyes, careful not to slip on the mossy rocks, put his talons out in front of his body-

 _-and pushed._

The power rose up inside of him, burning white hot with agony, but he persevered. He… had… to… do this!

 _SHOOOM…_

He heard gasps from all around him, but he couldn't stop now. The water… was _fighting_ him.

 _Okay, calm…_

He relaxed, exerting a bit more of his power, loosening his tense body. _The water goes where it wants to go. It will get to the sea. I will simply guide it there._

"Son…" one of the elders whispered.

He opened his eyes to a magnificently terrifying sight.

The water stormed past them, torrential and horrifying in its power, volume, and sheer speed. It flew in a graceful arc, from the start of the strid till the end- suspended at about eye level. It was incredible- almost otherworldly.

And of course, it left the strid bare to the onlookers.

Undulating rock with tiny orifices and uneven, craggy caverns loomed for a long way down. An adult dragon could easily clamber into the narrow space and not reach halfway up the sides. Sudden areas of darkness and odd shadows belied the many horrid things that loomed in the ravine. Some of the elders came closer to the edge, eager to get a closer look at it.

He swallowed. "Stand back."

They scrambled away from the edge just as he let the water fall, and it gladly cooperated. It thundered as it hit the bottom, and some of it sloshed against the sides, but in the end it calmed, returning to how it was before in no time.

Nonchalantly, he wiped the water from his brow. The storm was now slowing down, since he was no longer fuelling it. On the inside, he breathed hard. His arms were aching, and his chest was burning.

 _But I did it._

A voice behind him cleared its throat.

"You have proven yourself."

Cumulus grinned drily.

 _That's nice._

"You are truly a Stormwing, son."

And with that, the elder took off his hood- revealing dark grey scales and a few horns on his face. His eyes weren't warm, by any stretch of the word, but they were… warmer than they had been that morning- when, for the first time in years, he'd been allowed outside his prison.

"Go." He said simply.

Cumulus shook the elder's hand, and then with a single strong flap of his unnaturally large wings- took off without looking back.

And as he rose into the air, the rain now no more than a drizzle, he sighed in relief.

 _I'm done._

 _I'm finally done._

After what felt like an eternity, he was free.

 **~it's been a very long time…~**

Shimmer stepped off the train, holding her hand to the sky in a futile attempt to block out the sun. The massive orb glared down at them, almost as though it was disappointed to see that they had survived the journey.

 _We almost didn't._

Dots of various opacity flared across her vision as she was hit by the almost searing heat.

 _Brilliant._

Behind her, Longsnout dropped out of the carriage, panting as his claws impacted the dusty ground. The path to the mountain stretched out in front of them, lined with unlit torches and Silverwing guards. A few began moving towards the duo, spears in hand.

"What- is this place?" Longsnout asked between gasps. Sweat already beaded his entire body, and Shimmer probably wasn't much better. Her scales were currently an unflattering shade of grey, and they were getting lighter by the minute.

She looked up at the mountain, almost a blemish on their incredible surroundings- lush greenery abruptly giving way to coal and dirt. It towered hundreds of feet above her head, but halfway to the top, she could see a small opening- apparently, that was the entrance to the mines.

"Crow Mountain." she responded.

Alexandria had explained what they'd have to do- they would be escorted inside the mountain, and there would have to work in the mines. Of course, that was what they were _expected_ do. Shimmer didn't plan to remain here for more than a few weeks.

She had her son to find.

Of course, escape would be very easy for Shimmer- especially since nobody here knew about her ability to become invisible. However, that would require abandoning Longsnout- and she wasn't going to do that.

Besides, Gran-Gran had claimed that there was another dragon- possibly a Rainwing- imprisoned deep in the bowels of the mountain. It probably wasn't Kiwi- but if it was… no. Regardless of whether or not her son was the prisoner, whoever it was was still a dragon- one that needed rescuing.

 _Uuurgh…_

She shook her head- the heat seemed to be clouding her mind. Longsnout trotted next to her, head bowed under the angry stares of the Silverwing guards. They appeared unaware of who he really was- the illegitimate child of the queen and a Sapphirewing- but they still regarded him with a healthy dose of mistrust and suspicion.

As one of the guards moved to intercept them, Shimmer stepped over an invisible boundary- and sighed deeply in relief.

The temperature had rather abruptly just gone down by at least a few degrees- _far_ more agreeable with their mountainous surroundings. Turning, she saw Longsnout take another step- and gasp as the cool air assaulted his scales.

" _So_ much better." he said, blackened eyes closed as he stretched.

"…new recruits?" the guard called, apparently loathe to come closer.

Shimmer hesitated.

 _Recruits?_

And before she could open her mouth and tell them that they were prisoners…

"Yes." Longsnout proclaimed.

Silence.

"Okay." The Silverwing shrugged. "Long as you aren't too ill to patrol."

He waved the rest of the guards off and then gestured to Shimmer to come along. For a moment she was confused. Then it hit her.

 _Oh, my scales are light grey!_

"No, no!" she laughed, and the forcibly coughed. "I'll be fine."

The guard narrowed his eyes, and then continued walking.

"I'm assuming you were sent here by the queen?"

She nodded furiously.

"Good. So, let me tell you the ground rules." He continued as they began walking to the small hole that led into the mines. "Don't try to run away, and don't let any prisoners run away. Don't hurt them- not only can they not work if they're injured, you need to remember that these are people too. And rule three- don't go into sector seven."

There was a pause.

"…where's sector seven?"

The guard gestured back the way they had just come. That heatwave you felt? That's from an underground fire that's been raging for five years."

Shimmer blinked. "Five _years?"_

"Yes. The smoke in sector seven is toxic, it's way too hot, and so nobody goes there."

"But… why doesn't somebody just put it out?"

This elicited a grin from the Silverwing.

"And pray, how would you do that?"

Shimmer opened her mouth… and then closed it.

"Ummm… douse it with water?"

He giggled a bit. "Easier said than done. Wait until you get down into the mines. The entrance cavern is the first place you'll see- it's about half the size of sector seven. Imagine a fire that big. Now imagine trying to put it out with water. It just wouldn't work."

"You could stop all the air going to it." Longsnout mentioned.

"We tried." The guard responded. "The ground around here is very porous. The air seeped through anyways. Anyways, there are signs everywhere. Avoid it at all costs. Remember- your job is to maintain peace, and make sure nobody escapes. About once a day, you'll have to make the trek down into the bowels of the mountain to check on everybody. Understood?"

This time, Longsnout and Shimmer spoke together.

"Understood."

"Good." He waved them up the mountain. "You begin immediately."

 **~help~**

Kiwi woke up feeling like he'd been hit by a freight train.

A rather large one, more specifically. Quick. Feisty. Lots of carriages.

Despite his closed eyes, he could still see the incredibly bright glow of the sun through his eyelids. And… he felt oddly cold, for some inexplicable reason.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

Laid out in front of him was an utterly stunning panorama. Rolling hills that stretched all the way to a line of dense, coniferous foliage; the glacier, a behemoth of terror and size laid out to the horizon in both directions; and beyond, the icy mountains they had escaped from.

 _Wonderous._

He freed his talon from where it was trapped underneath his torso, and winced as the pins and needles inundated the appendage. Body brushing against the soft grass, he realised that almost everything around him- himself included- was covered in dew.

The only exception was Bright.

His skin was comfortably warm in the chilly air, scales rippling with each breath. The massive wound along his side had been healing, but it was only now that Kiwi could see the full extent of his recovery. No longer was the flesh inflamed around the edges, or raw and seeping blood.

It looked… much healthier, and had almost sealed up completely. Chances were, it would only take a few more days for it to heal enough that Kiwi could take the stitches out.

That was a relief.

…

 _At some point you need to tell him how you feel._

"Great. Now you're back?"

 _TELL HIM. This isn't healthy._

"I remember you being less annoying."

 _You simply scoffing at me isn't going to change the facts._

Kiwi sighed.

"I mean… I don't _really_ know how I feel about him! Maybe… I've just been neglected for so long that I bonded with the first person I met."

There was a pause. The slightly sick feeling in Kiwi's stomach subsided.

… _why not try? What do you think would be better; either finding out you don't have feelings for him- which for the record, you do- and breaking it off, or never experiencing it in the first place?_

"But-"

 _Do it._

"How do I even tell him?"

"Tell who what?" a drowsy voice rasped from beside Kiwi.

The Rainwing jumped as Bright stirred, curling his tail around Kiwi's and bringing their snouts closer together. He opened his eyes and gazed at him.

"…you know your colours look nice today, right?"

Kiwi could almost feel the wave of purple that overtook his scales at that exact moment.

"Ummm… yeah."

Bright groaned, and propped himself up onto his arms, resting his head on them. "So, were you going to tell me anything?"

Kiwi hesitated.

…

"…could we maybe talk about… my mom?"

Slowly, he blinked.

"…sure."

Kiwi wasn't sure how it happened.

He had been planning to maybe use the dream he'd had about his mother as a launching point for his… feelings. He'd been planning maybe a few throwaway lines before he professed his love.

But…

…instead, it all came pouring out.

"Well, to start off, my mom was _kinda_ neglectful…"

"…I mean, it wasn't her fault…"

"…maybe something to do with my dad, Hey! Did I mention how I never knew my dad? Good stuff…"

"…see this scar under my eye? I flew into a tree at full speed, remember? Except I was running away from this bully…"

"…sometimes I talk to myself when nobody else is around…"

"…well, by _sometimes_ I mean I basically have a voice in my head…"

"…yeah, I'm probably insane, but I came to terms with it long ago…"

"…that's why I knew so much! I've wanted to be a healer for _ever_ …"

"…and yeah, that's why I have trust issues. Also, I think I might be in love with you."

Until that moment, Bright had been sagely nodding along, fingers tented, eyes narrowed. And it took a second for the words to sink in. But the second they did-

-his pupils grew massive, and he abruptly stopped moving his head. His jaw dropped, and his fingers suddenly separated.

Kiwi looked on nervously.

"…I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way-"

"Are you sure?" he whispered, wonder twinkling in his eyes.

Kiwi responded immediately.

"Yes."

Bright blinked. Then quick as a dagger, he leaned in and-

…

…they drew apart slowly.

Bright was blushing furiously, but also looked… rather nervous.

"…are you alright?" he asked softly.

Kiwi softly touched his lips, grinning. "Never better."

And his mind- along with his scales- exploded gracefully with colour.

Blotches of it moved over his scales like clouds, while others whizzed across the surface in streaks and narrow lines and splatters, all a dark blue of distinct green or pink and yellow, and all the while he was grinning like an idiot and giggling as Bright leaned in once more-

And then suddenly, the smile on his face fell.

His scales were overtaken by a stormy grey.

"Oh." He said in realization.

"What's on your mind?" Bright asked gently, touching the Rainwing's cheek.

"Not much… you know, it's just…"

He brought his face closer to Bright's, closing his eyes as he did so.

"I don't know if my feelings for you are just a result of me being alone for so long, or because I genuinely like you a lot. And, I- I don't know which one I want them to be! Because…"

"Because what?" Bright coaxed softly.

"…because at some point, I'll have to go back to Pyrrhia. To my mom, and my tribe. I… can't stay with you. And you aren't going to leave your tribe either."

Bright sighed. "I know. And honestly, I don't want you to go. But at the same time…"

"I just don't want to be alone again." They said together.

Silence.

…

"…Kiwi, let's worry about the future later. For now… I'll be there for you. No matter what. You got that?"

Kiwi smiled softly.

"And as for your feelings… honestly, my dad never really let me talk to that many other people my age- especially not guys. For all I know, the same thing could be happening to me!"

"Really?"

"I mean, maybe. See, what I'm trying to say is… I think I really like you. And I think you feel the same. So… why not just try it out?"

Silence, for a second.

Then Kiwi grinned mischievously. "Okay. Let's do it."

 **A/N: So that was a… difficult month.**

 **But I pulled through.**

 **And I'm back with more updates!**

 **Good lord, everything sucks. Apologies for that weird note at the end of the last chapter, I just kinda end up doing shit like that when I'm in bad places. Like, for instance, when I'm about halfway to an anxiety attack.**

 **In other words, I was about halfway to an anxiety attack when I wrote that. Not an excuse, just trying to provide context.**

 **Sorry.**

 **Regardless, let's all collectively move on from it.**

 **Firstly, next week I'll finally get my new laptop, which means I can stop using my dad's- which is a goddamn relief. It has this really annoying problem where it just double types letters or spaces and** _ **GOOD LORD-**_

 **And second, as of the 4** **th** **of August I'll finally be in the same timezone as most of you. So you can stop expecting updates at like 8 in the evening and start expecting them at 4 in the morning.**

 **Also, updates are going to become less and less frequent since I'm also working on, like, an actual novel I can publish and the standard for writing those is like** _ **waaay**_ **higher (I've already spent more time on the opening paragraph than I did on chapter 9 of this story).**

 **Anyways, till next time!**

 **BTW I have a Darkstalker AU fic called Butterflies it's on my profile check it out please im begging you**


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 **A/N: Another month-long absence! At least I have an excuse- I moved to the US to go to school! Everybody who's in the same year as me is at least a year or two older than me- it's very surreal. I'm boarding with somebody who's 3 years my senior. And from China.**

 **I love it. And him. He's awesome.**

 **Mono-Pure as Snow is an awesome song that was stuck in my head while I was writing this. It's why I had Onyx describe Snowfall as 'pure' (get it? snowfall? snow? pure as snow? you get it), though now that I think about it, that sounds like something a neckbeard creep would follow up with 'm'lady'.**

 **The internet ruins everything.**

 **Let's just ignore that.**

 **Aaaand in other weird coincidences, The Poison Jungle has a small passage where butterflies are mentioned. I'm grasping at straws at this point… but they're very substantial straws. Also, LGBTQ+ protagonist! I'm so happy. I hope there are more! Although… throughout the book, Sundew went from being the angry, vengeful dragon we know and love to being a bit of a cartoon caricature of the same? IDK, I still liked it. Especially the worldbuilding- I knew there were a lot of terrifying plants; I just never realised** _ **how**_ **many there were.**

 **FYI I hate jungles. Too many icky plants and insects. I'm fine with tigers though. One hid under my dad's car once.**

 **~screens on windows are stupid we deal with what comes through windows like** _ **men**_

 _Uuungh…_

"…"

…

"… _make…idiot…"_

…

"… _don't care what they think about me!"_

 _The words swam in and out of focus as she struggled to regain consciousness. The voice speaking- rather, screaming- them, seemed oddly familiar to Onyx… but she couldn't place why._

" _Let them spread their rumours! Do you seriously think anybody's going to believe what they have to say?"_

 _Another indistinct voice joined into the fray, and the amplitude of their words increased gradually- as though the people to whom the voices belonged were walking towards her._

" _Snowfall, I don't think you truly understand how gullible the populace is right now. If a high-ranking official starts spreading rumours that I got you pregnant… very little can mitigate that."_

" _I mean, the fact that I'm not pregnant might be a good start. Also, the most intimate thing we've ever done is shake hands."_

 _Their footsteps echoed, and Onyx could feel the ceiling break apart over her- shards of obsidian falling to the ground, letting the light in-_

The cell door creaked open, and Snowfall sauntered in with a pith torch and a small cantor of water. Behind her, Neptune swung the door shut with a resounding clang.

"I'm going to go tell that asshole that if he goes ahead with this, we'll find a way to boot him off the council." He said, turning as he prepared to walk back up the stairs.

"Oh!" Snowfall stopped him. "Make sure to tell him that his mother's a prostitute. And his sister too."

"That's quite an unusual statement coming from a Queen." Neptune grinned.

"Yeah, well, we left normal behind a long time ago. Now, shoo."

Obediently, he left Snowfall and Onyx alone.

Snowfall turned towards her, the smile on her face widening. Her scales glinted in the light from the torch, and her eyes positively shone.

For a second, Onyx considered how Snowfall had walked into the dark cell, and had almost singlehandedly chased the shadows away.

Maybe it was a sign.

Snowfall looked far happier than she had just a few hours prior- of course, only slightly. But over the course of the two weeks Onyx had been here, she'd learned to recognise small things about the queen.

 _Something must've finally gone right._

"Hey." Onyx murmured weakly, following Snowfall's lithe scales as the Icewing rippled over to her side. The water sloshed in the cantor, distracting her quite badly from the Queen's graceful movements.

"Right back at you." she responded, gently nudging Onyx's shoulder. "Feeling any more lucid today?"

As of late, Onyx had been getting… better; especially when compared to her mental and physical condition a week back. Now, she wasn't hit by panic attacks until late into the night, and they would usually subside before dawn.

"I am." Onyx sighed, inhaling deeply. Snowfall's cool scent, suspiciously sharp and not unlike mint, flooded her nose and made her mouth water… though she didn't know why. Just… the feeling of her sitting so close was enough… to lull Onyx into an unsteady… sleep…

An icy talon scraped along the edge of her jaw, and Onyx realised that her eyelids had been drooping. She opened them fully, and lifted her head to find Snowfall no more than a few inches away.

She stared into the Icewing's eyes, slowly loosing herself to the depths of those oceans. And the lips, so tantalizingly close…

A loud snap brought her out of it.

"You alright?" Snowfall asked, talons still suspended in the air.

"Yeah." Onyx groaned, leaning into Snowfall's side, enjoying the feel of her scales. "It's just… you know what it's like when you're so tired you're numb, and you don't realise you're numb until you feel your face or your hands and you realise 'wow, I'm numb', and then you realise 'wow, I must be really tired', except it's not the kind of tired where you're just exhausted, you're just… numb in your mind too, and you can't really understand anything, and you just want it to end but you don't want to go to sleep either?"

There was a long moment where Snowfall simply stared at Onyx as though she was crazy. For maybe a split second- or it might've been several seconds, her perception of time was a bit off- the Queen's eyes flicked downwards, but eventually they met hers again.

"…more often than you'd expect." she smirked, still keeping her voice low.

Onyx blinked.

 _I'm forgetting something…_

"Oh yeah! Did something happen today?"

Snowfall's smirk went from that of a steely-eyed seductress to that of a well-natured librarian; from a lip-biting affair that made Onyx want to do unspeakable things to a lopsided grin that made the Sandwing shiver with utter warmth.

"Today," Snowfall began, taking her sandy talon in both of hers, "I finally grew some guts, stood up to the council, and told them I was making discrimination and segregation illegal. And the measure passed."

Onyx closed her eyes, sighing in relief as she brought her snout to rest on top of Snowfall's talons; clasped around one of hers as they were. "I knew you could do it."

"…honestly, I'm pretty sure it was all you."

"You're selling yourself short."

"Except one of the main reasons the reform even passed is because they took into consideration all the paperwork you'd prepared!"

Ah yes, the paperwork. It had been the result of five late-night sessions with Snowfall and Neptune transcribing everything Onyx said from the other side of the cell (Neptune maintained that Onyx was dangerous- Snowfall didn't care.) The two had helped more than that- they had told her the history of the tribe's problems, and helped her better understand what they wanted the measures to do. All Onyx had done was spout her legalese and make it official.

She felt like she should mention that fact- maybe argue.

But arguing would be no good. Snowfall won every single argument they had.

Though to be honest… she didn't care if she lost arguments with Snowfall.

It was…

"…that's nice."

"And I wanted to celebrate!"

She handed Onyx the cantor, and she drank from it gratefully.

"By sleeping together." she continued, and Onyx spit out the water.

"WHAT?"

Snowfall laughed, a sound that made Onyx's deceitful, dishonest heart go _ba-dump,_ and helped her set the cantor down.

"I knew you'd react like that. No, it's all in the phrasing. I'm going to sleep down here today! And if it goes well, every day from now on. I know you usually sleep during the day, so I'm sure you get bored during the night! Also, I could probably help with your panic attacks."

"…I'm glad you think that."

Snowfall grinned lightly, and it might've just been Onyx's imagination, but she felt a cool breeze snake up from between her shoulder blades and tickle her neck. For just a second, as their eyes met yet again, she forgot how to breathe.

"You don't?" she asked, eyes twinkling in the low light.

Onyx trailed her talon along the ridge of Snowfall's clenched fists.

"Why would I? In fact, you're a rational person- why would you?"

The Queen of the Icewings laughed in a manner very unbecoming of a queen- unguarded, almost as though she were unaware of the world around them. It was an expression of joy that was as pure as the snow she was named after.

"A week ago, I would never have believed that an anti-discrimination measure would even have made it before the council, let alone passed! The impossible… seems far more possible these days."

She sighed, and turned away from Onyx.

"Especially now that you're here."

…

…

…

"You're blushing." Snowfall mentioned matter-of-factedly.

"Well- y- you're wrong!" Onyx spluttered, trying to will the redness in her cheeks away.

"Really?" Snowfall tented her fingers, though still not releasing them from Onyx's hand. "Tell me, how much have you slept in the last one week?"

 _Fuck._

"…how would you define sleep?"

She leaned back, her point made.

"Ergo, not enough. I can help you."

"No, you can't."

"…"

Snowfall smiled tauntingly, and bumped their noses together.

"Aww, you want to argue so badly- but you can't! Because you know I'm right!"

"You're not!"

"Am too!"

She couldn't help it- Onyx smiled, The… infantile argument was cheering her up by leagues! There was just… something endearing about the incredibly low stakes, the utter pettiness of it… she just couldn't quite put her finger on what it was…

"Lord, look at us." Snowfall giggled. "Arguing like we're little dragonets."

Onyx smiled back, though inwardly, her heart ached.

 _Of course._

 _Dragonets._

Though she had once been a small dragonet with a mother, that…

 _Her head began hurting, her stomach began churning, her eyes smarted and the visions slowly began creeping up behind her pupils. Intelligently, she retreated from that line of thinking._

Point was, she'd never really… had anybody apart from her mother to talk to. She had spent her formative years- though she never really knew it- on the run.

 _Maybe that's why I try to run away from my problems…_

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." Onyx responded instinctively, though even she couldn't stop the small note of sadness in her tone.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Drop it."

"But-"

" _Drop. It."_ she growled, though not out of anger. She… she couldn't have Snowfall learning her secrets!

"Alright, alright!" the Icewing backpedalled. "I'm sorry. I… I don't want to ruin this moment. I just… wish I could help you."

Onyx sighed. "You _are_ helping. I… just don't need any more help."

"Try me."

"…maybe later."

They both knew that that 'later' would never come.

"…you know what, screw it. I came down here to give you something. I… might as well."

Snowfall glanced down at her hands, and for the first time Onyx noticed a small pinching in her right talon.

Slowly, Snowfall removed her hands. And there, nestled into Onyx's palm, was a jet-black gemstone.

It was intricately cut- at least ten edges shone in the soft orange light, and she could feel more on the flip side. Polished, too. And just under the surface, impossibly thin strands of gold roamed back and forth as though the gem were a loom, and they were the yarn.

 _Gods above…_

"…it reminded me of you." she said, voice tender yet strong- so familiar…

A pause.

"Because, y'know, it's made of onyx, and your name is Onyx…" Snowfall continued.

Onyx just stared down at the gem.

…

It meant something.

…

 _Goddamnit, I hate not knowing things._

"Onyx?"

She shook her head, and blinked.

"Sorry, zoned out there."

Snowfall glared at her for a long second.

"I'm sleeping down here, and I'm helping you get some sleep too. That's final."

…

"…you don't want to do that."

Snowfall grinned, the sharp glint of a challenge lingering in her eyes.

"And why shouldn't I?" she asked, moving closer to Onyx so now their torsos pressed against each other.

Outwardly, Onyx directed her eyes back to the gem. Inwardly, she gasped, feeling as though she had just been drenched in utterly ice-cold water.

 _Snowfall… you don't know how dangerous I am. What… what a terrible person I am. You have to believe me,_ please _-_

But she didn't say it aloud.

Instead, she let herself get lost in the feeling of the cool scales next to her.

"…you don't know me."

"But I want to."

"…you really shouldn't."

Snowfall bared her teeth in a smirk that drove Onyx insane with its indifference. She wanted to howl, to scream, to cry, to _die-_

"And why not?"

Onyx remained silent. As she did, Snowfall twined her tail into the Sandwing's- making sure to avoid the barb.

They sat like that for a while, loosing themselves to the amicable silence.

"…I'm going to figure out your secrets. Mark my words."

Snowfall nudged her side gently, and then got up and left without looking back.

…

Onyx turned over the small gem in her talons for a long second.

Then she closed her eyes.

She was too tired…

She didn't want to deal with this.

 _Snowfall…_

The name filled her with both excitement and dread, and she couldn't figure out why.

 _My head…_

She opened her eyes.

And retched.

 _Oh god…_

Her head hurt, and the pain was so excruciating she could barely think. Her heart was made of lead, and was a heavy weight in her chest that made it difficult to breathe.

It wasn't like before, when her inability to breathe felt like a rush of blood to the head- now it felt like she was drowning leagues under the ocean.

And the gem, just like Snowfall's words, were tiny knifes that sliced her open from head to toe.

It had to be a mistake.

It couldn't be.

 _Oh god…_

She couldn't believe it had taken her so long to realise it.

 _She has a crush on me._

She pressed her head to the cool ground, exhaling as she did so.

…

Another person couldn't get hurt because of her.

…

Especially not Snowfall.

…

She had to get out of here.

…

She could hear the delicate patter of the Icewing queen's steps as they advanced up the dungeon stairs.

And though she let a small smile wander onto her face, her mind was ablaze. And if the fire wasn't put out soon-

-she would burn.

 **~hello from the inside (of my room sunlight hurts I think im dying)~**

Blue had woken up that day knowing that something was wrong.

It was a weird feeling- as though the world had been charged with electricity. Sparks hung in the air around him, and he felt tense- shoulders taut as a zipline.

"Something's wrong." he'd announced the second he grew lucid enough to speak.

Green shifted next to him, groaning softly.

"You feel it too?" she mumbled.

"Also me!" Tamarin called from the other end of the room. "Don't forget me. I feel the weird thing too."

"Stop talking!" Pike growled from the entrance of the room. "I barely got any sleep because of you two."

"What do you mean _two-"_ Green began just as Blue cracked his eyelids open and took in the room.

The sun had seemingly just risen, but most of the inhabitants of the room were awake. Pike was slumped against the wall, staring Tamarin down. Beside her…

"Good morning, Anemone."

She was curled up next to Tamarin, snoring peacefully.

…

"I said good morning, Anemone."

"Don't bother." both Tamarin and Pike said at the same time.

"Speaking from experience," Pike continued, "nothing short of an earthquake is going to wake her up. Thankfully, I have a way of creating an earthquake right now."

He pushed himself off the wall, and dragged himself over to Pluto's bunk- where the Nightwing lay on his side, frowning- eyes still shut.

 _Flick._

Nothing happened.

 _Flick._

Nothing.

"Why isn't he waking up?" Pike asked nobody in particular, furrowing his brow.

"Because." Pluto said, opening his eyes to reveal massive dark circles and pupils so bloodshot it was a miracle he could see through them, "I was already awake."

A pause.

"You _fucking_ muppet." Pluto cursed, hurling himself out of bed. "Something's wrong."

"I was just saying-" Blue began.

"I KNOW!" the Nightwing raged, before closing his eyes and rubbing the skin above his nose.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit irritable. I got… exactly no sleep last night, and this awful sense of foreboding isn't helping."

"…d'you mind raging a bit more?" Pike volunteered. "It might wake Anemone up, and I'd _really_ like to get some sleep."

"…you PILLOCK, I WILL RIP YOU A NEW-"

"Good morning."

There was utter silence as Anemone slowly raised her head, blinked regally, stretched her neck gracefully, and then fell back into Tamarin's arms.

"How'd you sleep?" Tamarin asked her, nuzzling the side of her neck.

"Well enough." Anemone responded, trying to act nonchalant but failing to contain her excitement and joy.

Blue could relate. He'd been the same for the first few months after him and Green had started dating.

Somedays, it felt like no time had passed at all.

"'Well enough' is all?" Pike asked in astonishment. "I stayed up all night for that 'well enough'."

"Maybe if you'd have gone away, I would've upgraded it to 'decent'." Anemone retorted.

"To be fair, it was a _bit_ awkward knowing you were watching us all the time." Tamarin added.

"Oh was it?" Pluto asked, arms akimbo as he pranced in some sort of manic dance. "At least you two had each _other_ to ogle _!_ From my bunk, all I could see was him watching you two! I think he started drooling at some point."

"Did not!"

"Did TOO!"

"DID NOT!"

"DID TOO!"

"DID-"

"School meeting!" Clay sang as he barged into the cave, only to be met with the following sight- Anemone and Tamarin sleeping in the same bunk, Blue and Green sleeping in the same bunk, and Pike and Pluto facing each other in their argument- both red-faced and out of breath to the point where it seemed less like they had just finished a petty verbal altercation and more like they'd just run a marathon.

…

"…I'm sorry for intruding on what appears to be a rather heated lover's tiff, but there's a school meeting. All of you need to report to the prey centre pronto."

"IT ISN'T A LOVER'S TIFF!" Pluto screamed, voice hoarse and eyes streaming with tears.

Clay held up his hands, carefully ticked a checklist, and then backed out of the room while maintaining eye contact.

"…it'll be okay." he whispered soothingly, before bolting out into the hallway.

Pluto wiped the tears from his eyes. "God, I really need to blink more often."

"Wait," Anemone began. "He was watching us but you weren't?"

Pluto blinked pointedly, and some of the tears stopped.

"I'm asexual. Hey, where's Brook and Firestorm?"

 **~FATHAAAAA (also, admit it- you forgot Brook and Firestorm were a thing for a second)~**

Brook opened her eyes blearily. Then she closed them again.

She had been woken up BEFORE DAWN by Clay, who had afforded her the _privilege_ to wake up the rest of her winglet for an emergency meeting in the prey centre.

She'd straight up refused.

Clay, to be fair, was a trooper- he didn't flinch, and instead just told her he'd do it later himself. Then, while she was getting out of bed- since she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon- she'd accidentally stepped on Firestorm's face.

 _Oh, god._

He'd spent the next half hour screaming at her in the prey centre. As the other students had slowly tricked in, and the sun had finally risen, he'd calmed down a little.

Key word being _little._

"Hey Brook?" he asked, and she sighed.

He'd done this seven times now.

"Yes?" she responded, keeping her eyes fixated on the area that had been cleared out for Tsunami to speak.

"Fuck you."

She didn't grace that statement with an answer.

The original dragonets of the prophecy- yes, all of them, _including_ Glory- were standing off to the side. Clay was listing off winglets from a checklist he had in one hand, and munching on an apple he had in the other. Sunny was listening attentively, and Tsunami was slowly punching her open palm, clearly angry about something. Glory managed to look radiantly regal despite obviously being dead on her feet, and Starflight had- rather discreetly and very impressively- fallen asleep standing up.

"…aaand that's it." Clay concluded, and Tsunami nodded before curtly dismissing him. Before he left, he handed her a small scroll.

"Hey Brook."

"Not now, Firestorm." Brook snapped, her eyes following Tsunami as the Seawing stepped up in front of the assembled student body.

"Fuck you."

"Shut your trap- I think she's speaking."

"Students, " Tsunami began, voice booming as she clutched the scroll in her talons, "I regret to inform- oh, screw this."

She furled up the scroll delicately, gritting her teeth.

"The gist of it is, Qibli and Moon didn't come back from the summit I sent them on. For the record, I still don't know why I agreed to send them. Anyways, I conferred with Queen Glory, who was among the last people to see them, and we think they went off into the mountains to look for Winter, one of our former students. So since we technically have two missing persons, you're not allowed to leave the premises anymore. Have fun."

She stepped off as the murmurs began spreading through the crowd, and headed over to where her friends stood.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't." she appeared to be saying to Clay as he handed the scroll back to him. He beamed good-naturedly, and simply tucked the scroll under his arm.

Suddenly, one last group of stragglers burst into the prey centre.

"Sorry we're late!" Pluto called hoarsely as the rest of her winglet waded into the crowd, eager to find a place to sit. "What'd we miss?"

Firestorm groaned and facepalmed, but Brook suddenly found herself very interested in one of the dragonets of destiny- Glory, who was looking at Blue and Green as though she had seen a ghost. For a second, she looked like she wanted to confront the two, but held back. The two dragons themselves hadn't seen her yet, and they probably wouldn't- after a short word with Sunny, Glory blended into the rock wall behind her, invisible to everybody.

"mornin'." Green mumbled into her orange, which she had swiped from a random student. "Being woken up this early is turning me into a bad person."

"I have to agree." Blue added as he took a bite out of a banana and handed it to another student. "I hope they stop soon."

"What happened?" Tamarin asked as she walked over to Brook and Firestorm, her tail still entwined with Anemone's.

"We can't go outside cuz Moon and Qibli wanted to meet their friend." Brook said.

"Hey Brook." Firestorm began.

"Eat shit." she retorted immediately, sick of his rubbish.

"Fuck you."

"Do it. Pussy."

"How uncouth!" Anemone said in a mockingly regal tone, placing a dainty talon on her chest as she recoiled. "In my kingdom, I could have both of you executed for using language like that!"

"Yeah, that's true." Deathbringer said from behind them, where he was wedged in between two very annoyed-looking Mudwings.

"Holy shit!" the Seawing jumped, her voice back to normal.

"Hypocrite." Firestorm grunted.

"Hey, short stack, why don't you eat my a-"

"Now, now, no reason to turn on each other!" Deathbringer placated the quartet. "Turn on them instead."

He pointed to where Blue and Green were sitting. They seemed to be drifting off to sleep, and honestly looked really cute while doing it.

Silence.

"…why would we do that? Also, who the hell are you?"

Deathbringer sighed.

"Alright. This might turn out badly for me- but to be fair, it's _really_ early in the morning and I'm not thinking straight. Regardless, take a look at this. And I mean a take a _good_ look."

He extracted himself from between the Mudwings and, with surprising dexterity and agility, navigated between the students. Blue was basically half asleep, and Green had her head rested on his shoulder. It was absolutely adorable.

"Hello." the former assassin said casually as he stopped in front of them.

Instantly, Green's eyes flew open.

Even from where she was sitting, Brook could see the flash of utter fear in Green's eyes.

"What's up?" Deathbringer asked them casually.

As Blue sprang from where he was sitting and grabbed her hand, her eyes narrowed- and she bared her teeth.

"Hey!" Deathbringer waved his hand around his head as though he were swatting flies. "Are you messing with my mind? Stop that!"

As he said it, Blue and Green were already halfway across the centre. A few students turned their heads to follow them, but suddenly snapped them back as though nothing had happened.

"STOP!" the Nightwing screamed, stumbling after them as he clutched his head.

The duo darted into one of the tunnels, and all was still.

"…who were those two?" Deathbringer asked, eyes wide as he came to a stop near the tunnel entrance.

Quickly enough that if you blinked you would miss it, Glory materialized in front of him and whispered into his ear. He went through a myriad of expressions- confusion, regret, and finally determination.

Glory plastered the fakest grin Brook had ever seen on another dragon onto her face as she turned to face the crowd, a few of whom had turned to watch the queen's bodyguard.

"He's just a bit delirious!" she laughed, before pulling him down a side tunnel.

Anemone gaped from where she was nestled into Tamarin. The Rainwing sighed as she ran her talon down her girlfriend's torso.

"So, what the fuck just happened?"

 **~why have you forWAKEn me~**

"It's down the hall and to the left. You can refill the water from that stream over there if he wants more."

Shimmer nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

It was time.

She decided to focus on her steps, and not dropping the pitcher of cool water.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

The opening in the wall loomed, and it seemed far too close for her comfort.

This… wasn't going to be Kiwi.

She had asked around- and the Rainwing that was being kept prisoner here had been here for at least a decade. He'd been a part of the prison populace for about nine of those years- even sometimes being allowed outside with supervision. But after a botched escape attempt… he had been shut down here.

Slowly, she turned the corner.

It was all too fast.

Right.

Left.

Right.

There it was.

The cell.

And inside lay a Rainwing- scrawny, incredibly thin, with grey splotches all over his body. His breathing was ragged, and his wings were shrivelled with disuse.

As she came closer, she took in his sleeping face.

Wait…

Her heart thumped loudly, and she dropped the pitcher.

It clanged loudly against the rocky ground, and made the Rainwing snap awake.

"Wha? Who's there!"

He flailed about in the dark confines of the cell, and it afforded her the opportunity to see him again- to memorise his eyes, his face, the curves of his body…

She knew who he was. She knew from the prominent marks around his eyes, so similar to his son's…

He stopped, noticing her standing in the darkness.

"…Shimmer?"

She swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"Hello, Gecko. Fancy seeing you here."

 **A/N: Blaze of the Summer Sun! You were right!  
im so tired please review that makes it worth it**

 **I remember this one meme I saw that likened handing in an essay to tossing a garbage bag into the bin. I'm sure you know the feeling- that "fuck, im done with this shit" feeling.**

 **that's how I felt when I finished this.**

 **next chapter's gonna be better I promise.**

 **bye  
**


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 **A/N: Apologies for the late chapter! I've been going through one of my 'abibliophilia' stages, which basically means I'm reading lots of random fanfiction… and if I go too long without finding any that pertains to my fluffy tastes, I get fucked up. Like, to the point where it isn't even funny.**

 **Anyways.**

 **It's time for a confession!**

 **I really screwed up the pacing when I had that thing with Onyx and Snowfall happen last chapter (Blaze of the summer sun, you were right again! at this point I think you'd write this fic better than me) and didn't notice it until I reread the chapter while gearing up to write this. I think I fixed the problem… but created another one.**

 **See, I'm always afraid when I write lesbian fluff, because I'm terrified I'll end up contributing to the really weird fetishization of lesbian relationships in our modern media (look around- there are an almost infinite amount of examples). Mostly insofar that most of the fluff I write is very… physical- which is what most weirdos on the internet (and those guys who directed Room in Rome and Spring Breakers, two of the worst movies I've watched this past month) think relationships between women hinge upon. And...**

 **Okay look. It may not be obvious… but I'm like the most touch-starved son of a gun on the planet- which is the reason most everything I write (see: the entire Qinterwatcher subplot) is very physical- cuddles, kissing, intense hugging, hand holding, sleeping together and so on.**

 **It's just how I write it.**

 **Except it's not really an accurate portrayal of real relationships- most people don't spend all their time doing stuff like this. Actual, healthy relationships don't go like this. They're based on an appreciation of the other person's personality too.**

… **so yeah. I'm just worried I'll end up influencing how people see these relationships. I don't want what's happening between Onyx and Snowfall to be perceived as entirely physical- but I'm scared it will be.**

…

 **Although it** _ **is**_ **pretty well established that their personalities are responsible for this relationship. And their respective situations as well. I'm just concerned cuz the physical state Onyx is in right now** _ **does**_ **come up a lot.**

…

 **Ah hell, maybe nobody cares. Maybe I'm just making things awkward. Fuck, I don't know. Like, I'm just trying to explain away why most of this chapter reads like a Literotica entry.**

…

 **what have I become** _ **oH GOD**_ **-**

 **Also wanna know something interesting? I've written two full-blown songs that have been inspired by events in this story! One of them was based on Blue and Green's relationship and how it's going to progress, and the other… well, it's based on a scene that happens after the end of this chapter. Isn't that a nice titbit?**

 **~the hi's on these headphones are pure and utter shit~**

It had been two weeks ago that Snowfall had decided to come down to Onyx's cell.

She had stumbled down the steps, collapsed in the corner, and bared her soul to Onyx.

The Queen of the Icewings had, for all respects and purposes, revealed her deepest fears and insecurities to this… this _Sandwing_ that she didn't even know.

She had put her trust in Onyx; tried to use her for support when her own systems were breaking down.

And Onyx, like the considerate person she was, had lapsed back into her mania without so much as a 'thank you'.

…

…that could've been the end of it.

…

But it wasn't.

…

The next night, Snowfall had shown up again.

" _Why, hello there."_

 _Onyx blinked through the kaleidoscope of pure hurt, rubbing her head in a futile attempt to make her headache go away._

" _Damn." she grunted as she struggled to lift her head, eyes focusing on Snowfall. The Queen was standing directly over her, staring down with barely masked concern._

"… _are you alright?" she asked delicately._

 _Onyx could've said a lot of things at that time._

…

 _But she didn't._

"… _never better." she responded, smiling softly through the pain._

 _Snowfall grinned back, light catching the edges of her upturned mouth gracefully, and then proceeded to collapse onto the ground._

" _UUUUNGH." she groaned, slowly turning over and unfurling her wings as she stretched. One of them almost caught Onyx in the face, but she ducked at the last moment._

" _It's so," Snowfall began, reaching out with her arms in an attempt to work out the kinks in her joints, "god_ damn _frustrating to deal with the council."_

 _A memory flashed before Onyx's eyes- Snowfall telling her about her problems… before her mind shattered again…_

" _How so?"_

 _The Queen giggled._

" _So glad you asked."_

 _They had spent the next half an hour discussing Icewing politics. It was intriguing, learning about the ring system from something other than a scroll- and the tribulations that came with its use. In all honesty, they could've kept talking for the rest of the night._

 _But Onyx had lost her mind again._

…

 _She remembered how Snowfall hadn't tried to stop her descent back into madness- but had instead just held her hand…_

… _held it as Onyx had fallen…_

… _fallen backwards into pure darkness._

 _Though she didn't realise it at the time- it had helped._

 _The next morning, after she had recovered from the previous night's ordeal, Snowfall had sauntered into the room with fresh bandages, a bit of poultice, clean water, a few towels- and a scroll._

 _The scroll had been about trade in and around the city- something Onyx had made very clear she was interested in. She would've preferred to go outside and actually see it happen… but that wasn't really possible._

 _In part because of her injuries._

 _But also because of the riots._

 _Snowfall wasn't very coy about what was going on in the city, and what she wanted to do about it. As far as she was concerned, abolishing the circle system was something the citizens of the kingdoms had basically already done in the lower circles- but the higher circles remained resistant._

 _So, her master plan was to first pass anti-discrimination measures, and then slowly ramp them up so that the circle system could just be done away with._

 _And she had explained all of this to Onyx while bathing her._

 _It was weirdly awkward, having Snowfall delicately remove Onyx's bandages and wash her body for her. There were lots of… moments of extreme embarrassment, when there really shouldn't have been._

 _But there were also moments like this._

" _I know what the circle system does to people." the Queen mentioned, using one of the towels to get at the stubs where the fingers on her left hand used to be attached. Though most of her wounds were still a bit inflamed, she was in much better shape than before- and would probably be able to walk on her injured talon soon._

" _What do you mean?" Onyx asked, genuinely curious._

 _Snowfall sighed, dipping her talons in the poultice and smearing copious amounts of it over her stubs._

" _My cousin… Prince Winter. He was at Jade Academy."_

 _Onyx frowned in recollection._

" _I did go there… but I don't think I remember him all that well."_

 _She grimaced lightly, inspecting the splint on Onyx's broken arm. "I mean, I didn't expect you to. You probably have amnesia."_

"… _what was he like?"_

 _She sighed, and raised her head to the ceiling._

" _Headstrong. Determined. Arrogant. We thought he had died in a duel with his brother in a last-ditch attempt to get to the top of the ranks. So… imagine my surprise when, not a week later, he showed up and helped us defeat Darkstalker."_

 _A smile lingered on her too-full lips. "I was almost proud of the guy."_

"… _what does that have to do with the circles?"_

"… _I mean, he wasn't always like that. As a kid, he was… just a nice kid! Innocent, fun loving, compassionate,_ remarkably _intelligent… but he messed up a hunt, and got demoted to the lower ranks."_

Once more, she set down the towel and stared at the ceiling.

"… _he was pretty far down as a kid. And while he was trying to climb back up… it was pretty obvious he was only doing it for his parent's validation."_

 _Another, deeper sigh, and Onyx took this as a sign to gently place her hand on hers. Snowfall smiled, but there was agony hidden just under the surface of her eyes._

"… _I think the worst part is that… because of this goddamn mad rush… I just never learned who he was. He was always the underdog who had potential…but none of us ever learned what made him tick. What made him…_ him."

 _There was a long silence._

"… _this may not be the best thing for you to hear," Onyx began, speaking in a low whisper, "…but I remember that he cared a lot for scavengers."_

 _Snowfall tilted her head downwards, closing her eyes as she exhaled._

"… _he was so angry and_ bitter _and… and there was this deep sadness carving through him like a glacier through a mountain and… and it was justified." she continued. "I remember… he only fought against Darkstalker with us because he didn't want us to die. Nothing more. And I can't blame him."_

 _Another long silence._

"… _I'm certain he's doing fine." Onyx soothed, stroking the Icewing's talon._

" _He'll be fine."_

…

" _It'll all be fine."_

…

 _After the cleaning and dressing had been finished, Onyx and Snowfall talked for another hour. Then her mind broke, and at this point it was like clockwork- it pulled her under the surface of her darkest thoughts as though it were an eldritch monster from the depths of the ocean, dragging her down to meet the unspeakable horrors that lurked in her mind…_

 _..and she barely remembered anything when she woke up._

 _But Snowfall was almost always there._

…

" _Hel-_ looo!" _the Queen sang delightfully as she clambered down the stairs, holding-_

HOLY HELL!

- _her rucksack!_

 _Snowfall's smile widened as she took in Onyx's reaction._

" _I completely forgot, but we kinda took away your rucksack when you first arrived here? Anyways, here it is!"_

 _She carefully slid the rucksack towards Onyx, who scrambled for it- and grimaced immediately._

" _Crap." she grunted. "I keep forgetting that_ both _my front talons are incapacitated."_

" _Lemme help you!" the Queen declared excitedly, looking for all the world like an excited dragonet about to open a present._

 _Carefully, she opened the rucksack, and extracted…_

… _.a book covered in stars…_

… _.and a small scroll…_

da…

 _Oh yeah._

da…

 _Smoulder's message._

da-dum…

 _The one he had written to read to her._

da-dum…

 _The one he hadn't been able to, because he was now dead._

da-dum…

" _Hey, Onyx?"_

da-DUM…

 _She tried to lift her arms, to move her body, to do_ anything-

 _but it didn't help._

DA-DUM…

 _It was almost funny. Two months ago, she had been a strong, fairly attractive Sandwing with a claim for the throne. Now…_

DA-DAUM

… _now she was a coward who had let her father get killed._

DA-DUM.

 _A coward without a mother._

DA-DUM.

 _A coward who had killed other people to appease Vulture._

DA-DUM.

 _A coward with one functioning limb, and one functioning eye._

DA-DUM.

 _She was a bastard._

DA-DUM.

 _She was worthless._

DA-DUM…

She _should've been the one that died._

DA-DUM.

" _Onyx?"_

DA-DUM.

" _ONYX!"_

 _She was drowning, and nothing could help her out of-_

DA-DUM.

"… _hmmmmmm..."_

DA-DUM.

"… _hmmmmmm..."_

DA-DUM…

 _The gentle vibrations reverberated against the inside of her skull, soothing her with their constance. She let herself be swept away by them, clinging to the sound as though it were the only piece of driftwood for miles on a restless ocean._

DA-dum…

"… _hmmmmm…"_

da-dum…

 _As she slowly came to, she could feel icy arms encircling her torso, and a cool cheek pressed against hers. A hand stroked her neck just next to the frill, and the action sent muted explosions of colour into her mind- chasing the darkness away._

 _da…_

 _The instant she reopened her eyes, she heard a deep sigh of relief._

" _Oh, thank god it worked." Snowfall murmured, almost laughing with relief._

"… _you saved me." Onyx replied softly, hyperaware of how the Icewing's body was pressed up against hers._

 _The Queen grinned nervously. "I… read about it somewhere… that humming and hugging helps with… that. And I wasn't sure if it would do anything."_

"… _thank you."_

" _Don't mention it. Hey, are you alright?"_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… _never been better."_

 _Her chest heaved with the weight of the lie, but Snowfall didn't seem to notice._

" _What_ was _that?"_

"… _I don't know. It usually only happens to me at night…"_

"… _would you say that it… makes you panic?"_

"… _not really? I'm a bit used to it by now."_

 _She sighed. "I'm asking you if it was a panic attack."_

"… _maybe? I'm not sure."_

 _Snowfall groaned softly, and for the first time, Onyx noticed how she was gently rubbing her talon in the space between her forefinger and thumb. The rhythm was soothing, lulling her into an unsteady sleep…_

"… _we really need to stop those panic attacks… and I'm sorry, I- I shouldn't have brought this bag down here. It's clear that it triggered some sort of trauma… I'll get rid-"_

 _Her eyes flew open._

" _NO!"_

 _In the seconds after she said it, Onyx realised she had been a_ bit _too loud._

" _No- I mean, No. I'll be fine. There are… things in there that… that I would like."_

 _Snowfall raised a questioning eyebrow._

" _They don't have anything to do with me panicking!" she cried anxiously. "Honest!"_

 _She wasn't being honest._

"… _fine. As long as I get to stay here in case something goes wrong."_

 _Snowfall placed the scroll back inside the bag, and picked up the star-studded book._

" _This seems interesting." she commented, glancing at Onyx for a second before she flipped to the first page._

" _Authored by… Palm the Sandwing. That's nice. And-"_

" _Wait, WHAT?"_

 _The Icewing raised a single eyebrow. "Authored by Palm the Sandwing. Any relation?"_

"… _h-how?"_

 _She slid the book towards her, opened to the title page. "A comprehensive guide to stargazing in the Sand Kingdom." it said._

"… _she was my mother." Onyx gasped, dragging the book closer to her, as though that would somehow bring her closer to Palm…_

 _There was silence._

 _A silence so deep and profound that honestly…_

… _neither of them wanted to break it._

…

 _Eventually, it lapsed into something a bit more comfortable. Snowfall placed a wing over Onyx, and helped her turn the pages of the book her late mother had written. It wasn't a storybook, really- more a documentation of constellations, and what time of the year they were visible at. Every other page had a star map splayed across it._

 _But there were exceptions._

 _Onyx let her gaze wander over the words written in front of her- slanting, looping cursive making her feel a bit woozy._

"… _I think I remember my mother telling me this story." she whispered, eyes glimmering with awe and recognition._

 _Snowfall took a closer look, resting her chin on the Sandwing's shoulder._

" _Hmmm… Draco, a constellation exclusive to the Sand Kingdom in the Winter. There's some interesting folklore here… I guess this is what you were referring to?"_

 _She gestured to the paragraph about the dragon and the human, and Onyx nodded._

" _It's pretty interesting." Snowfall commented, skimming the words. "…running away, hunh. Sometimes, I wish I could just deal with my problems that way."_

 _She sighed. "But I can't just leave my kingdom behind. I have a duty to the people here."_

"…"

"… _cute love story though."_

…

 _Onyx decided against reading the scroll Smoulder had prepared for her just yet. It was… a bit too raw._

…

" _Hold still." Snowfall scolded._

" _Sorry!" Onyx responded, grimacing. "It hurts a lot."_

 _The Icewing sighed, shaking her head. "I know, my dear. Just… a few more seconds, alright?"_

 _She was removing the bandage that covered what was left of Onyx's eye. It was… incredibly disgusting, seeing the long strands of bloodstained cloth fall to the ground in a heap, but it was_ far _worse_ feeling _the individual strands of cloth being pulled away from the flesh._

" _Aw shit!" Snowfall cursed as a particularly sharp pain pierced Onyx's skull. "Fuck me."_

" _Maybe later."_

 _A short burst of laughter escaped from Snowfall's mouth, but then she got back to work- removing the rest of the bandage, and smearing the area with a healthy amount of ointment. It took only a few seconds for it to start stinging, sending cool shudders through her body, but Onyx became accustomed to it very soon._

" _Sorry, I'm not as talented as the professionals." the Queen laughed, wiping her talons clean of the ointment just below Onyx's nostrils. As the Sandwing inhaled, the sharp scent of menthol causing her remaining eye to water. "They're all so busy these days… that's why I decided to take over their more mundane duties! Also, I kinda use this as an excuse to spend more time with you."_

 _Onyx winced, but forced a smile nonetheless. "That's alright. I prefer your company to some random Icewing anyways."_

 _Snowfall laughed, breath like a fresh mountain breeze as she edged their snouts closer together. Though Onyx knew this was purely to get a better view of the massive wound… she still found herself blushing._

"… _yeah, it appears to be healing nicely." the Queen ventured, daubing a bit more liquid onto the area. "I'd recommend keeping the bandage on for another month, and then either switching to an eyepatch or a leather strap or cloth or something. Honestly, it could've been a lot worse."_

 _Snowfall booped Onyx's nose gently. "Whatever it was could've ruined this cute snout."_

 _Onyx blinked in surprise. "What?"_

 _Up until this point, Onyx had resided in the comfort and security of knowing that she was utterly hideous. One of her hind legs was almost completely lame, one of her talons was missing all its fingers, her forepaw was broken, her muzzle was scratched to bits and she was missing an eye. Not to mention the array of scars across her body._

 _Snowfall gave her a once over, and nodded sagely. "I didn't stutter."_

"… _you think I'm cute?"_

" _No."_

Oh thank god-

" _I think your_ snout _is cute." Snowfall continued. "The rest of you is incredibly hot."_

" _That's not true!" Onyx countered, feeling the heat in her cheeks rise. "Have you_ seen _my snout?"_

 _Snowfall blinked._

" _Yes."_

" _Well?"_

"… _is this about how your face is a bit scratched up? Because that doesn't make much of a difference."_

" _B- but- I mean, what about my scars?"_

 _Snowfall shrugged nonchalantly. "What about them? At worst they're a bit of a doozy, and_ I _personally think they make you look even more like an utter badass. As far as I'm concerned… eleven out of ten."_

 _A pause._

"…"

" _Twelve if you keep making that face." Snowfall quipped, before booping her again, and then picking up her supplies and leaving the room._

…

 _That had been one day before everything had gone to shit._

 _And it made sense now._

 _Of course it did._

 _It made sense…_

…that she'd have to run again.

Her breaths came short and pronounced, and her headache grew even more pronounced.

There was a thumping against the base of her brain, as though a dark force was begging to be let in…

…or demanding.

She did everything in her power to stop the trapdoor in her mind open.

And it wasn't enough.

It was never enough.

She was never _enough-_

 _She inhaled deeply, feeling her chest rip apart from the pressure. It was as though she were breathing lead… it sunk deep into her lungs, dragging her down through the icy water…_

…

 _There was nothing around her._

 _Just flat land, mostly obscured by a thick, grey mist._

 _Nothing._

 _And then-_

"… _hello, Onyx."_

 _She knew that voice._

 _She knew it far,_ far _too well._

 _She knew it far better than she had any right to._

… _she knew it better than she wished she did._

" _Hello, Vulture."_

 _Out of nowhere, an outstretched talon flew out of the darkness, catching her across the face._

 _She didn't flinch._

" _Face me, you coward!" she screamed, turning in place as she frantically searched for him. The shadows danced in the corners of her eye, putting her on edge._

 _Another talon, and this time the claws sunk right into her gut._

 _A month ago, she would've screamed in agony._

 _Now, she grasped the arm, and_ then _screamed, in both agony and pure rage._

 _Vulture laughed manically, and his appendage dissolved to dust._

" _Scared, are we?" his disembodied voice asked, and her eyes grew wide._

" _Wh-where are you?"_

 _He laughed again._

" _It's somehow even easier to fool you now than it was last time!"_

 _And their surroundings shattered._

 _The floor caved apart, a massive sinkhole opening up. It was so wide that, as she fell… she couldn't see the edges._

" _You know nothing, you fool!" he hissed, voice crackling with untold power._

 _He held all the power._

 _She closed her eyes, and if not for the wind whistling in her ears, could've almost pretended she wasn't falling._

 _He was going to kill her._

 _She knew it._

 _She had failed._

"… _I'm sorry."_

 _Her body hit the ground with a sickening crack, and flopped uselessly against the unrelenting ground. For a second she looked peaceful, as though she were sleeping. Then the blood began pooling around her head, and her chest remained completely still._

… _she was gone._

 _So why could she still think?_

 _Why could she still see?_

 _She was looking down at her dead body, a starburst of cracks in the ground around where it had landed, and she was surprised by how much it didn't bother her._

 _All she saw was a failure who deserved to die._

 _Nothing more._

 _Nothing less._

Good riddance.

"… _Onyx?" a delicate voice called._

 _And, despite her lack of a physical form, Onyx felt her body go numb._

…please, no, _please…_

 _Snowfall stepped out of the darkness surrounding them, a small torch in her talon. Almost immediately, her eyes focused on the body in front of her._

… _at first, she said nothing._

 _Then she lowered herself to the ground, pressed her chin into her chest, and took a long, wavering breath._

 _Then a soft whimper, as the Queen of the Icewings extracted a knife-_

" _NO!"_

 _Onyx screamed. She screamed and she screamed until her lungs burnt. But no matter what she did, no words escaped from her mouth, and she was forced to watch Snowfall plunge a knife into her-_

"SNOWFALL!"

She lurched awake, gasping loudly. Her head spun, her ears hurt, and her mind…

"Onyx!"

She couldn't remember where the Icewing had come from. All she knew was that one second she was screaming her throat hoarse, and the next…

…the next, Snowfall was in her arms, stroking her spine as she whispered soothing nothings into her ear.

Onyx tried to put her talons around Snowfall too, to pull her closer, to anchor herself to reality…

…but they were shaking far too much.

"Ssssh," Snowfall continued as the Sandwing trembled, "no, it's going to be fine, everything's going to be fine…"

She sniffled softly as Onyx finally calmed down.

"…Onyx?"

She shivered, clutching the Icewing closer.

"Yeah?

"Let's just run away."

"…from what?"

"Everything. Just… leave this place behind. Forge our own path."

"…"

"Onyx?"

"…you're not her."

 _Snowfall's grin split into two, and her head followed suit. Bits of her skull spiralled around them as the dream collapsed, and their surroundings morphed into the hellscape of the tallest spire in the Sand Kingdom._

 _Onyx squeezed her eyes shut to avoid the gory scene, already feeling the tears welling up- and the bile rising in her stomach._

Of course I'm still dreaming.

 _She breathed deeply, and almost threw up- the smell of blood was wafting into her mind… taking over…_

Oh god…

 _She knew what she would find the second she opened her eyes._

…

…

 _But she did it anyways._

 _The bodies of Snowfall and Smoulder lay sprawled across the rooftop, gore scattered around them. Snowfall had been decapitated, and her head lay separate from her body- a trail of blood smearing the ground between the two. Smoulder was just as she last remembered seeing him, but Thorn… it looked like she had been pulled apart, limb by limb._

 _A thick, coppery smell snaked its way into her nostrils, and she felt like she might vomit._

 _Scratch that. She_ was _vomiting._

 _She threw herself onto the edge of the roof, throwing up over the edge._

" _Uuungh!"_

 _As she regurgitated all the contents of her stomach, her eyes burning… she tried to remind herself that it was all a dream._

It can't hurt you. _she thought as she brought herself to her shaky feet, wiping at her mouth._ It's not real.

 _Snowfall's head snapped to attention, glowering up at her with an incredible rage trapped within her._

" _You did this to us." she spat._

 _Onyx screamed._

" _You're responsible." Thorn called, her severed arm propping up her neck for her._

 _At this point, Onyx was hyperventilating. Each of their eyes were so… so_ angry, _and she couldn't… she just_ couldn't-

" _No!" she begged, screaming into an endless void that would show no mercy. "Just stop!"_

 _And then Smoulder opened his eyes, bloodshot pupils staring up at the stars._

"… _I thought I loved you." is all he said._

 _And she let herself fall._

 _Off the tallest parapet in the Sand Kingdom._

 _It was a very long way to the ground._

 _And this time she didn't stop herself from hitting it._

 _She simply closed her eyes-_

"ONYX!"

 _She was in the desert._

 _She stood atop a sand dune, gasping as her heart beat ever faster. Oh god, her eyes, her head, her heart, her soul…_

Snowfall and Smoulder.

There's only one left now.

 _And she screamed_ so _loud it hurt her parched, battered throat, and she clawed at her wrists to feel something,_ anything _that wasn't guilt, and she was all alone, out here amongst nothing and no one, and-_

" _Hello, my dear."_

 _The stars blazed as though they were furnaces, dotting the night sky. They bathed the desert with light… illuminating the body of another Sandwing…_

 _Onyx gasped loudly, feeling as though she had just been doused in icy water._

" _Palm?"_

 _The Sandwing smiled._

" _The very same."_

 _There was a pause, filled only by the sound of the gentle desert wind. Palm directed her gaze towards the stars, and her eyes sparkled with their magnificence._

" _..I met you once before." Onyx began._

" _Indeed you did."_

"… _you told me something, didn't you?"_

 _Palm sighed deeply, tracing constellations into the sand under her talons as her eyes knit together in a frustrated glare. Quietly, she settled down._

" _I told you to find yourself."_

 _One of those pinpricks of light broke formation from the rest, and began lazily drifting towards them._

"… _I didn't, did I?" Onyx asked, her ears flattening against the top of her skull._

 _The world shrunk and expanded around them, dunes flowing like waves in the distance. Closer to here, though, everything was still._

" _It's not as simple as did or didn't." Palm continued, inspecting the diagram. "Despite what your mind may make you believe."_

 _She turned her head to the heavens, worry shining in her jet-black orbs._

" _We don't have much time left."_

"… _why?"_

 _She wanted to take the words back the second they left her mouth._

 _Palm sighed again._

" _Cherophobia. You read about it in one of your books. It's the fear of being happy because something bad will end up happening."_

"… _so that's what's wrong with me?"_

" _Also probably schizophrenia. And anxiety. And depression."_

"… _is that all?"_

" _No, there's much more. Though that's not the point."_

" _Then what is?"_

" _The point is that your mind is changing everything around you. It's trying to make everything seem wrong… make it seem like it's your fault."_

 _The cool wind lapped at her legs, and sent fine sheens of sand flying around them. They stung, but Onyx didn't dare blink._

" _So what does that mean?"_

" _It means that you can't trust your brain."_

" _So what do I trust?"_

 _Palm smiled as she stepped forward, tapping Onyx's chest._

" _Trust your heart."_

 _Onyx stepped back, trying to ignore the chills that ran down her spine._

" _All that trusting my heart has_ ever _done is kill people I love!"_

" _No." Palm continued in the tone of somebody disciplining a dragonet, "Circumstances you can't control killed people you love. But that's not going to help you right now. So all I'll say is… trust your heart. No matter what."_

" _But-"_

" _Let me rephrase that." Palm reiterated, standing up. "Trust your heart… even if it kills you."_

 _Onyx shook her head, trying not to let the fear and desperation in her soul seep through into her words. A small sob shook her body… and then she realised that she had nothing left to hide._

"… _can I hug you?" she asked the mother she had barely known._

 _Palm grimaced, glancing up at the heavens once more._

" _I'm afraid that's not the best idea right now, my dear."_

 _Suddenly, the winds around them, the dunes under them, and the sky above them seemed to click in Onyx's mind. Looking up, she saw it._

 _Three full moons shining bright._

Gods…

" _You know what's going to happen now."_

 _And she did._

 _And it hurt._

"… _I'm so sorry…"_

 _As Onyx choked back her sobs, the sky exploded with light. A massive shockwave burst her eardrums and sent sand spiralling up around them. The air heated, their surroundings were bathed in a bright orange glow, and-_

…

…

…

… _it was over._

 _Onyx let one long, shuddering gasp escape her torn throat. Bending her head closer to the warm sand, she nudged Palm's talon. The tears she felt falling from her eyes and streaming down her face…_

… _mercifully blocked out the sight of her mother's dead body._

 _She swallowed past the lump in her throat, and tried to keep her voice from wavering._

" _I'll make it up to you."_

…

promise?

 _Once more, the voice echoed over the entire desert, and as she took a singular, wavering step back… the- the stars seemed to shake in place… shedding strands of light that streaked across the inky skies as though weeping… mourning the loss of one who loved them so dearly._

"… _I promise."_

And so she woke.

 **~is it over?**

…

…

…

… **it's been over for a long time, my dear.**

 **we just never realised it.~**

Onyx wailed as she beat her talons against the ground.

Because it still hurt.

It hurt so much, and she wished it didn't.

And Snowfall was holding her.

That hurt too, and she wished it didn't.

She'd known immediately when she was awake- the world suddenly seemed fuller than it had when she had been dreaming, and she felt more lucid, and for a second she had thought about smiling-

-and then her heart had shattered.

"…Onyx, please-"

"No!" she growled, voice hoarse with tears. "Just.. don't!"

"I-I-"

For the first time ever, Onyx saw the Icewing queen at a complete loss for words.

"-I- I can't help you without knowing what's wrong!"

Onyx scrunched up her face, trying to quell the flow of tears.

"I-I can't have you loving me!"

Snowfall gasped in shock.

"W- why?"

"Because it'll end the same way!"

"...what?"

Onyx let the ice in her veins settle, drinking in the stale air. "No matter what I do, it _will_ end in destruction."

"That can't be-"

"My mother."

"…that doesn't-"

"And my father."

"…"

Onyx breathed deeply, feeling her heart fire in short bursts. It was slowing… she was calming down.

Gently, she turned around so she could see Snowfall better. Though the Icewing was still holding her… there was guilt and sadness present on her face…

"I'm sorry." Onyx whispered, wishing she could speak without the threat of breaking down. "I shouldn't have yelled."

Snowfall said nothing, instead electing to brush the streaks of tears off Onyx's face.

"…truthfully," Onyx continued, feeling the emotions well up, "I don't deserve your love."

Snowfall ran a cool talon over the raised bit of skin on Onyx's lip where the assassin had sliced through.

"…has anybody ever told you that you're beautiful?"

Onyx closed her eyes, pain shooting through her body. "Snowfall, I-"

"I don't mean physically." she pleaded, clasping their talons together. "Though… you still look hot, I stand by that."

She sighed, pressing the tips of their hands to her forehead.

"I mean… everything. Just… you have such a strong urge to learn, and to help others, and to… just… I don't know- persevere."

"But-"

"And it's clear you've been hurt, that you've been hurt _so badly,_ and you still try no matter what, and…"

Around them, the world seemed to slow, and Onyx found herself drawn to Snowfall's eyes; so rich and dark and clear… as though a stained-glass window that looked upon the Queen's soul.

"…I've admired these things about you since the day we met."

Onyx grasped at Snowfall's talons, staring into her eyes, trying to understand…

"…how- how do you not hate me?"

"…there are days that I do."

"So-"

"Days that I fucking _hate_ that you can't see that you matter!"

Snowfall brought the two closer together, shaking her head in a sort of gleeful exasperation.

"You mean so _goddamn much_ to everybody you meet, and you refuse to see it."

Onyx shuddered, feeling chills run up her spine.

"And sometimes, I hate that. And… on other days, I can't blame you."

They were close… too close… _too close…_

"You have a star-studded soul, Onyx." Snowfall smiled softly, running a finger along the thin outline of Onyx's lips- soft vibrations reverberating through her teary eyes, her jaw, her heart…

"…and you deserve the world."

She looked up, and their eyes met.

…

And then Onyx kissed her.

…

The bastard princess' lips fell onto those of the Queen's, and she drank from them as though a traveller in the desert, driven mad with thirst. Almost unconsciously, she pulled the slightly more petite Icewing up; hands scrabbling at her neck in a desperate, futile embrace.

The need for air tore at her chest, and her heart threated to pull itself apart as it stuttered in her ribcage, and her brain screamed at her to _fucking stop it, you're killing her, you're_ killing _her, you stupid, arrogant,_ worthless-

They broke apart far, _far_ too soon, and a hollow, wretched gasp wrenched its way out of Onyx's breast as she pressed her forehead to Snowfall's shoulder.

"Oh, _god-"_ she began, feeling as though her intestines were being ripped out through her spine-

" _Shh."_ Snowfall soothed, stroking the side of her jaw as the Sandwing choked on her tears.

"I-I'm _sorry, I'm so sorry-_ "

Snowfall kissed her again, just to get her to stop, but she just wept harder, and-

" _I'm here for you."_

…

Not 'everything will be fine'.

…

 _I'm here for you._

…

Snowfall continued, whispering the words in her soothing cadence;

" _I'll always be here for you."_

Her entire talon brushed along Onyx's cheek, wiping away the tears.

" _In this life… and the next."_

"Don't-" Onyx hiccupped, almost unable to speak through her sobs and cries, "don't say it like you're- you're going to _die-"_

She choked on her words, and Snowfall's chest heaved in a way that felt so _familiar_ to Onyx that it became clear that the Queen was holding back tears, and-

"Please don't leave me." she whimpered.

Snowfall clasped her so tightly that she could barely breathe, and at this point the Queen's sobs were raking the air with their unfamiliarity and the pure, _guttural_ pain that ran through them like blood through veins…

…

…

…

And so they held one another as they wept.

… **y'all my 4month old earphones just died.  
rip in peace you fuckin pieces of shit. **

**can I get an f in the chat for my motivation?  
this was gonna be like 4k words longer, but I lost all my drive and just decided to do this. It's a more poignant ending, regardless. and y'all get an update!**

 **Also I recently rewatched The Hunchback of Notre Dame and realised Winter has the same character setup as that Frollo meme.**

 **Winter: "That thick, raven hair, those tightly fit clothes… what are these unholy desires?"  
Qibli: "No-one turns other men gay like Gaston!"**

 **im so tired.**

 **Last joke!**

 **Snowfall, delicately sipping sparkling cider on a chaise lounge, gesticulating gracefully with the champagne flute: "** _ **For after all, what is a Juliet, without her Romeo?"**_

 **Onyx, draped haphazardly over the back of the lounge, chugging vodka straight out of the bottle like a pro: "Alive."**


	28. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

 **A/N: y'all ever spend forever on something and have it turn out like garbage?**

 **yeahhh…**

 **[I've been sitting on this for the best part of two months. At this point, I'm just going to release it and move on. god knows I've spent way too long]**

 **I'm still alive. shocker, I know. I truly expected to die about a week ago, when I mixed my double espresso with monster and drank it to try and stay awake for class after staying up the whole night because of a panic attack that was brought on by a nightmare. because I'm having those again. also, I have a cavity in my front teeth that might be getting bigger but I can't go to the dentist cuz my health insurance doesn't cover that. fuck my life.**

 **Anyways, I got a review recently (it's been over a month now, goddamn I'm late) that mentioned that I fucked up the colour of Winter's blood in chapter 17. I was going to fix that mistake in this chapter in ways none of you could've anticipated in a million goddamn years… but about 4k words in I relapsed into another depressive episode and deleted everything. Fun fact: that's why this chapter took so long! I had to wait about two weeks for the suicidal thoughts to stop, and then start over. That was fun.**

 **Leave a review guessing what it was I was going to write! Maybe if there's enough interest I'll post a separate M-rated story about Qinterwatcher. Although I'm not sure if it was M material… it was fairly T. In fact, it was borderline K+. I've seen raunchier stuff on the menu at Panera Flats.**

 **On a more serious note, this is the most fun I've had writing a chapter… maybe ever. I've gone way too long without just writing self-indulgent fluff to make myself feel better about abandoning all my friends due to my destructive tendencies and general stupidity.**

…

 **Wow, that got dark.**

 **still true tho**

 **Check out Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky. It's impossible not to smile while listening to it. Checkmate, depression. Also, Red Paper Lanterns by maybeshewill is too good to be true.**

 **Also the characters are anthro for this one chapter cuz a) I need practise writing characters that are actually human and b) I wanted to give Moon an afro.**

 **[it's been two months, and I've spent each night of them staring at this damn word document. It's rusty, but at this point I just want it out there. still, don't let that detract; this is, after all, a labour of love]**

 **Let's go!**

…

…

…

…

…

"…remember last night?"

"…yeah?"

"When I asked you if we were going to get any sleep?"

"Yeah."

"We didn't, did we?"

"…nope."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I've been… _staring_ at this drop for like hours now. And I'm… tempted to do it. Just to see what it's like."

The three of us stood at the edge of a cliff, staring down at a lake far below us. In the early morning light, it shimmered an inviting, sparkling blue; and I was fairly certain it was deep enough for us to jump into.

The operative word there being 'fairly'.

Qibli raised a single eyebrow, scratching behind his ear as he glanced between me and the long, long drop. His hair was growing out, but that wasn't really a surprise. _All_ of us looked worse for the wear. I wasn't sure how long our clothes were going to last, either. They clearly weren't designed for rough living.

"…are you sure?"

 _No._

"Hey." I clasped his hand in mine, grabbing Moon's hand a second later.

"It can't be _that_ bad."

There was a pause, during which Qibli turned to glare at me incredulously, and Moon used her free hand to facepalm.

"Murphy's Law is going to bite us in the ass." she mentioned, bumping against me with her shoulder. "But I'm cool with it. LET'S DO THIS!"

And with that, we jumped off the cliff.

…isn't that a great way to start off your morning? Jumping off a cliff with your best mates in a _desperate_ attempt to wake yourself up.

Although that _might_ be a tad disingenuous. After all, how does one 'start off a morning' when they haven't slept at all?

Perhaps our lack of sleep was responsible for our lapse in judgement.

Or maybe we just wanted to do it. Nothing more, nothing less.

But I digress.

…there's not much to say about the fall that hasn't already been said by hundreds of other people. Your stomach drops out from underneath you, the wind rushes past you, the water comes up to meet you far too quickly-

Yada, yada, yada. The fall isn't really important here. What comes _next_ is.

We hit the surface with a massive _FWOOSH,_ and disappeared underneath the surface.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what finally woke us up from whatever dreamlike haze we'd been stumbling around in. Cold water is more effective in that regard than a good kick to the chest, I'll give it that.

It's a bit more painful than a kick to the chest, though.

I surfaced almost immediately, kicking furiously in an effort to stay afloat. Next to me, Moon burst out of the water, gasping for air, followed rapidly by Qibli, who appeared to be using her as a life preserver.

"Oh god, it's _freezing!"_

Moon and I exchanged a glance, and simultaneously realised the problem.

 _Oh yeah._

 _He's from the Sand Kingdom._

"Ummm…" Moon hesitated, unsure of the best course of action. Was it wise to try and pull Qibli out? Or get him to warm up using our body heat? Or-

"No! Wait, I think…" Qibli sighed in relief, dunking his head under the water. "My body's adjusted! False alarm, I'm fine."

He then proceeded to spit out a fountain of water, and me and Moon had to duck away from the spray. Rather uncourteous, taking into consideration the lengths we had been planning to go to help him-

 _THOOM._

The menace I call my boyfriend flung his arms across the top of the water, causing it to slosh towards Moon and I in a massive wave neither of us had any chance of avoiding.

"Hey!" Moon spluttered, flailing to avoid being knocked under the surface. "Not cool!"

I took a more practical approach when dealing with my boyfriend's delinquency; I returned the favour with a splash of water that covered him entirely.

And then we had a water fight.

…and I barely remember any of it.

Granted, it was lots of fun. And there were certain moments that stood out to me; like Moon duelling it out with Qibli, one on one, their hair soaked and plastered to their foreheads, clothing sopping with water, and the biggest grins spread across their pretty faces.

It was amazing, to be honest.

But each one of us was exhausted to the point where we were semi-lucid. And that simply wouldn't stand, would it?

Which is why, after a small amount of time, we trudged out of the water and onto the land surrounding the lake.

I suppose I should mention a few things about our surroundings. We had entered a massive valley the previous night, and had trekked for at least a few hours before we'd found something to eat. Finally, as the night began to retreat, we'd settled down on a flat plateau.

The rising of the sun had revealed to us the massive mountains that ringed the valley, along with the great big lake in the middle. It was irregular in shape, with an outcropping of the opposite shore spanning almost completely across it. It was on this peninsula that we made our landing, and collapsed amongst the spongy pine needles.

The area was heavily forested, but at these altitudes there were mostly just pine or birch trees anyways. The chill hung in the air, but it didn't affect us all that much. Maybe it was because we had each other. Or maybe it was because we were dumb.

Who knew?

Me and Moon collapsed almost immediately, but Qibli kept walking. I debated going after him, but was stopped by Moon wrapping her arms around my waist in what can only be described as a death grip. If this had been a wrestling match, I would've tapped out in seconds.

"…no." she mumbled, not even seeming to care about her soaked clothes or dishevelled hair. "Tired."

" _You didn't sleep at all!"_ I responded, softly scritching her ear and straining to breathe evenly. " _Of course you're tired."_

I could feel her smile against my skin as she hugged me tighter. It was almost worth the pain.

"…yeah…"

And with that, we lapsed into a very, _very_ comfortable silence. I'd grown rather fond of it over the past few days… nothing but the sound of rapids in the distance, and the occasional birdsong to interrupt the still air. Sometimes the wind picked up, causing the pine to perfume the air even further with its rather tangy scent… and sometimes it would remain quiet for hours on end.

And I always loved it.

Because generally, being alone with my thoughts is a pretty big issue. But whenever I have _them_ with me… it no longer matters.

Therefore, I took the time to take in an _extra_ long breath, and then proceeded to lose myself to our almost ethereal surroundings; letting my spine curve against the spongey ground, and leaving my hand to rest in the crisp soil, and feeling the warmth of Moon against my torso.

Sure, there was a fair bit of choking I had to endure to _get_ that warmth, not to mention the biting sensation of water evaporating from my clothing… but I was willing to endure it.

Besides, at this point she was probably asleep. And I was loathe to disturb a slumber as peaceful as hers.

And _that_ was why I was pretty mad when Qibli burst out of the foliage with all the subtlety of a rampaging water buffalo.

"Hey! I-"

At this point, he seemed to finally realise what he was intruding upon, and that gave him pause.

For almost half a second.

"HA!"

I glared at Qibli.

" _Keep it down."_ I whispered. " _She's sleeping."_

" _Sorry!"_ he responded immediately, darting over and crouching next to me. _"I'm just glad you're_ finally _being subjected to Moon's trademarked death grip."_

" _Ah…"_ I waved at him with my free hand, trying to ignore the pressure in my lungs. " _It's fine. No biggie."_

Qibli pouted, crossing his arms and straightening a bit as he did so, letting the sun flare right into my eyes in the process. I squinted against the glare, readjusting my hand to block the blinding light.

"… _you guys mind if I join in?"_ he asked.

I rolled my eyes, and grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him in for a kiss. The fabric was rough and worn down… but was also quintessentially 'him'.

" _Do you even need to ask?"_ I responded.

But back to what I was saying. Case in point about the shirt; it has a custom text print on the back that just says 'Qibli'. When he and Moon were dating, she would end up stealing his shirts- and he'd done this to try and stop it. He'd planned to do it to all of his shirts… but given up on the idea once he'd realised how expensive it would've been.

Besides, it's not like it stopped her. The shirt she was wearing right now was his too.

Speaking of him, he flashed me another infuriatingly cocky grin before removing his sopping shirt. "I'll take that as a yes."

I raised an eyebrow as he dropped to the ground next to me, not even bothering to mention that what I had told him _was_ a 'yes'. "Aren't you worried about catching a cold?"

He shrugged, and I found my eyes drawn to his well-defined collarbones. "Eh. I think staying in those clothes is gonna give me more of a cold than just wandering around shirtless."

And with that, he pounced onto me, gripping my torso so tightly and so suddenly that I almost choked. His grip wasn't as tight as Moon's, mind you… but it was pretty close.

 _Damn, they were made for each other._

And that's where my brain stuttered for a full second. For an instant, I felt those old doubts start to cloud my mind-

-then Qibli bonked me on the forehead.

" _Ow!"_ I whispered, glaring at him again. " _What was that for?"_

" _Doubting yourself."_ he whispered back, holding onto me like a huge teddy bear. " _I know that look. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably bullshit."_

With that, he resumed his full force hug, and the feeling of my ribs creaking and almost cracking was enough to make me forget what I was worrying about. Thankfully, after a few seconds my body adapted, and my breathing returned to normal.

Or at least, as close to normal as it could get with two incredibly hot people pressed up against me. Especially when one of them was half-naked.

… _I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth._ I concluded, turning my gaze to the distant sky. Though the sun _was_ out, we were in a valley surrounded by a forest, so it wasn't shining directly onto us. More importantly; far above us, I could see the massive clouds looming. And if I concentrated hard enough, I could actually see them creeping across the ether.

And so, before I knew it, I was asleep.

…

…

…

"… _no no, I remember my mom doing this to me when I was a kid."_

" _I'm not sure, though…"_

" _At least try it!"_

 _As I shifted slightly, trying to hold onto the fast-retreating remnants of his dream, I found himself pulled into the real world by a weird sensation against my lips._

"Mmmmnph…" I grunted, protesting weakly. The sensation didn't go away, though. In fact, the pressure on my mouth increased. Seeing no other way out of this predicament, and already fairly baffled, I opened my mouth a bit.

Some berries slipped onto my tongue, comfortingly cool. As I bit down on them, their tangy-sweet taste filled my mouth, and I became aware of some slightly sticky fingers caressing my cheek.

So I opened his eyes.

And grinned.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

"Hey."

Moon hovered above me, brushing her fingers over the skin under my left eye. Qibli was curled up next to me, reaching above himself to offer up more berries.

"Haf sumph more." he mumbled through a full mouth, and I realised immediately that I didn't actually have any say in the matter. The boy just pushed a few more berries into my mouth, and then went back to happily munching on the rest.

I looked to Moon, who was trying her hardest not to laugh.

"We went foraging while you were asleep." she mentioned, bringing him closer to her. "And Qibli found some blueberries, which he apparently hadn't had before, and fell in love with them."

Qibli swallowed the final few, and brushed the juices coating his hands off on his jeans. "I'm going to go and collect some more. But first…"

He leaned over, and kissed Moon and me in quick succession.

"Stay safe!" he called, before disappearing into the foliage.

…in an effort to fill the ensuing silence, I looked over to Moon, who simply shrugged and pulled my toothbrush out of our bags.

"Brush." she commanded. "I'm not going to kiss you until you do."

"I've never heard a more compelling reason as to why I should oblige a request." I quipped, and got a soft laugh in return.

"You're ridiculous when you say things like that." Moon mentioned, hanging me the brush. "But ridiculous in a good way. Like… in the way that makes other people happy."

That, for some reason, made me smile like an utter lunatic as I walked to the water's edge and began cleaning my mouth. I could see my reflection in the water, and truth be told, I looked like an especially creepy axe murderer with that grin.

Though I suppose it didn't really matter all that much.

I walked back to our impromptu camp, where Qibli had finally deigned to re-join us; fists brimming with blueberries. Though the fruit is absolutely delicious, I think Qibli's the only one of us who can consume it in the quantities that he does. In fact, he does that with all his meals; it's a wonder that it hasn't gone to his hips.

Though I suppose he _is_ basically a child in a teenager's body; in a good way, of course. I guess he has the metabolism of one too.

After Qibli had finished gorging himself on outrageous amounts of blueberries (and had spent a few minutes dealing with the resulting stomach-ache), he struck up conversation with us.

Though the conversation _itself…_

Qibli coughed awkwardly, rubbing his hands together.

"This is going to sound… like _really_ weird… but have you ever tried a three-way makeout session?"

I blinked. Hard.

"What?" Moon asked, one eyebrow shooting up.

Qibli held up his hands, palms facing outwards. "Alright, hear me out. What would it feel like… if each of us tried kissing each other at the same time?"

Silence, broken only by the soft chirping of cicadas in the distance.

"…I don't think that's possible." Moon mentioned.

Qibli pouted.

"We could try it!" I suggested, trying to resolve the disaster this conversation had become.

"Ummm…"

Moon crossed her legs and leaned forward, beckoning us closer. I leaned in slowly, honestly not sure what to expect.

And of course; almost immediately, things started to go wrong.

First, my hand slipped in a piece of dirt so damp it was almost mud, prematurely making my lips meet Moon's. Then Qibli, who was still following the original plan, tried to join in, but only succeeded in mushing his cheek against mine.

After a second, we all pulled away.

"…well, _that_ didn't work."

I groaned exaggeratedly. "Guess we'll just _have_ to try again."

Qibli grinned. "Yeah. Too bad, really."

"Such a shame." Moon added, unable to keep the smile out of her voice.

And then we tried again.

And again.

And again.

And it _simply would. Not. Work._

"Right." I declared after our fifth attempt, which had ended with each of us locked in a triangle formation where we couldn't get any closer. "I think we're going to have to call it quits."

"No!" Qibli protested vehemently, arms windmilling as he tried not to fall forwards. "We need to do it at _least_ once!"

"But it's impossible!" I countered.

"Nothing's impossible with the right mindset!" He argued.

"We _literally_ can't do it." Moon mentioned.

"Not with _that_ attitude we can't!"

Moon sighed, a smile still on her face. "Fine. One more time."

"Good!" Qibli clapped his hands together, grinning like an absolute madman. "Stick your tongues out!"

"Ok- wait, what?"

"Less talking, more tongue! The French call this method _real_ kissing."

I sighed, resigned to my fate, and stuck my tongue out. Following my lead, Moon did the same. I leaned into our impromptu kissing circle, and-

-my head bonked against Qibli's, causing both of us to fall back.

And Moon burst out laughing.

"OW!"

I rubbed my head where it had made contact with Qibli's skull. "Make out with both your partners at once, they said. It'll be fun, they said."

Qibli grinned sheepishly, and Moon just laughed harder.

"To be fair," she forced out between giggles, "I didn't ask you to do anything."

Something clicked into place in my mind, and I pointed at Qibli.

"You're right! It's all _his_ fault!"

Moon caught on instantly.

"GET HIM!"

Qibli never stood a chance.

In less than a second, we had him cornered. After another second, we had taken him prisoner, and dished out his punishment.

"You know, this is the nicest punishment I've ever received."

Moon, who was at this point straddling his chest with her legs, simply leaned in and rested her forehead against his. The two of them settled into the embrace, and I remained content with stroking Qibli's hair and sneaking kisses. I'd had enough of life- threatening hugs.

…

…alright, that was a lie.

I glanced over at Moon, who had the top of her head pressed against the bottom of his chin. "He's right, you know. Is there anything we can do to make this worse for him?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, I was planning to wait here until it began raining… but now that I think about it, that might be a _bit_ cruel."

"…do you guys _need_ to punish me?"

"No." I responded immediately. "It's just more fun this way."

He sighed, still smiling contently.

And so we lay.

Contemplating.

…getting a bit bored too, if I'm honest. It isn't _all_ sunshine and roses.

Because of that, inevitably, my mind wandered back to all those books I'd read.

And my eyes wandered to the hundreds of trees surrounding us.

"…you had a pocket knife on you, right?" I asked, tapping Qibli's chin gently.

He started, caught off guard by the question. "Yeah? Umm… _why?"_

"I was thinking about… like… carving our initials into the wood?"

It was only as I said the words that I realised how dumb that sounded. Grimacing, I trailed off, preparing myself for the judgemental stares-

"Brilliant idea!" Moon said immediately, getting up and brushing the dirt off her sleeves. "Let's begin!"

I blinked. "Are you only agreeing to make me feel better?"

She sighed, dropping down next to me as Qibli went over to one of the trees, inspecting it.

" _No,_ I'm not. I know you don't need to be coddled… it's just that it was a cute idea."

"…oh. Sorry."

"It's fine."

For a second, I was worried she was still a bit cross, but then she smiled at me with the intensity of the sun, and all my worries disappeared into the mountain wind.

"So!" Qibli began, having scoped out a suitable tree. "How do we do this? A straight line? A curved line?"

"Actually…" Moon interrupted him, tapping her finger against her chin. "…make it a triangle. That way, each of our initials will be the same distance away from one another."

As the conversation continued, I drifted into the soft down of my thoughts, wandering between half-baked thoughts and ideas and attempting to spin something out of them.

 _Hmmm… a seamstress of thoughts. That's something I really should explore more. In a poem? Maybe. What if she was a spider who surrounded herself with tapestries, and spun more to her heart's content? It could make a point-_

"Ready to leave our mark on the world?"

Qibli grinned, flicking the knife open. "Yeah. Winter appears to be spacing out, though."

I shook my head, refocusing on the events in front of me. "Sorry, I was just thinking about those romance novels again."

Moon raised an eyebrow, brushing a few strands of hair out of my eyes. "What about them?"

"…love triangles."

"Aww!" Qibli responded, carefully setting the knife down as he pecked me on the cheek. "Topical!"

As he continued the carving, I clarified. "No, I mean… like, how love triangles aren't actually love _triangles."_

"You're not wrong." Moon agreed. "I mean… _we_ are an actual love triangle. I'm… not sure what the things in the books are."

"Love lines." Qibli mentioned, sitting back as he inspected the inscription. "Simple as that. Two different people in love with _one_ person? _Boooring!_ Also… it's usually a _straight_ line, if you catch my drift."

My cheeks puffed out as I realised what he was trying to say. "You got anything against heteronormativity?"

"Yes, actually."

"He's not wrong…" Moon murmured, lost in thought. "Actually, it's possible that we're the first people to ever try a relationship like this!"

I smiled. "Wouldn't that be something."

"Well, I _don't_ think we're the first." Qibli retorted, brushing away the wood shavings as he finished up the carving. "And I don't think being first is all that special anyways. Sure, _some_ lucky sods out there were the first to try something like this. But guess what?"

As though he were a cat on the prowl, he sashayed over on all fours, curling up into a ball between me and Moon.

"We're the _best_!"

I couldn't help it- I burst out laughing. Moon wasn't that far behind either, and though Qibli didn't join in, he had a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes that told me that he was _so_ happy that he'd made us laugh, and that realisation made me want to kiss him even harder, and-

"You're not wrong." Moon whispered into his ear, brushing away his hair. It always seemed to get into his eyes, and he never did anything to stop it, no matter how many times one of us pushed it back.

I think he liked the attention. Besides, I wasn't complaining; it was the perfect reason for me to touch my boyfriend without seeming too clingy.

…yes, I am aware that I have issues.

We sat like that for a long time… just losing ourselves in the feeling of togetherness.

But all things end.

And so, a few hours later, we found ourselves forced into a nearby cave by the rain.

The sounds of the storm thrashed their way into our camp; but were muted significantly by the flickering fire we'd set up in the centre of the cave. Though the rocks were rough, we'd spread out one of our tougher blankets; and it seemed like it was up to the task.

And it was there, as we were getting ready for bed, that I noticed something.

As he sat next to me, Qibli sneezed.

My first instinct was to kiss him until one (or both) of us asphyxiated because that was just _way_ too cute.

But then I made a worrying connection.

"…Qibli, are you sick?"

He sniffled slightly, and I suddenly noticed how red his nose was. In fact, his entire face seemed a bit flushed…

"You have a cold."

He wiped at his nostrils, glaring up at me without any real malice.

"Yes."

There was silence for a second.

Then I guffawed loudly.

"What's going on?" Moon asked, walking over to us from closer to the fire.

"Ah… sorry." I stopped my manic laughter. "He has a cold, despite the… let's say, _preventative measures_ he took earlier today."

Qibli glared at me again, but for all the good it did he might as well have pecked me on the cheek.

"…' _s not funny."_ he mumbled, turning away.

"At _most,_ you're going to have to deal with cuddling." Moon responded. "What's the problem with that?"

He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, grumbling all the way.

"…' _s_ still _not funny…"_

Moon shrugged. "Alright. I'm just going to change into something I can actually _sleep in_ … god knows this bra is going to _choke me…"_

And with that, she was once again off to the other side of the cave, which was still shrouded in darkness and would afford her at least _relative_ privacy.

Which left me alone with my cranky boyfriend. Who I decided to appease with kisses.

Kisses always work. It's one of the reasons I love them.

Among others.

At one point, Qibli stopped me with a palm on my chest.

"Wait, if we make out while I have a cold… won't _you_ get a cold too?"

That made me stop. If only for a split second.

" _No!"_ Moon called out from the other end of the cave, voice muffled due to her battle against her thick sweater. " _Not unless it's_ really _bad!"_

"Well, there you go!" I kissed him again, and then snuggled up right against his spine. "As long as you don't sneeze on me, we should be fine."

There was a long pause during which neither of us said anything. Qibli shifted a bit, trying to get to sleep… and I watched the flames, straining my ears to catch the barest of crackles. A few sparks flew off into the air, not unlike fireflies.

As the sounds of pattering rain crescendoed, thunder rumbled in the distance. Qibli jolted in his sleep, but I just tightened my hold on his torso. Considering his desert upbringing, he probably wasn't used to lightning.

"Don't look!" Moon called from across the cave, and I closed my eyes.

"Wasn't planning on it!"

There was quite a bit of shuffling, a few muffled curse words, and I'm pretty sure that at some point Moon stubbed her toe and spent a few minutes hopping around on one foot… but eventually I felt a cool breeze waft under the blanket as my girlfriend crept in.

On the other side.

"Alright, it should be fine now."

I opened my eyes, finding her hugging Qibli like I was, her head resting against his so as to see me clearer. The blanket came up to her neck, but that was only because of how chilly it was.

"You look disappointed."

"…I was kinda hoping you'd come hug me so I'd be warm on both sides."

She smiled, and I felt her reaching over Qibli to take my hand. "I mean, Qibli needs heat more than either of us right now. But next time…"

I smiled, and shifted so my face was even closer to hers.

"You know I love you, right?"

She blushed, and I felt a warm feeling somewhere deep inside my soul.

It was incredible.

And then I felt something twitch.

"And I love you too, Qibli." I whispered on a hunch. Sure enough, he groaned, and pulled Moon even closer, pushing himself back towards me in the process.

" _How'd you know I wasn't asleep?"_ he murmured, burying his face in Moon's neck.

"Intuition." I responded immediately. "Anyways, you should be fine by tomorrow morning."

He sighed happily, taking one hand from where it was wrapped around Moon to twirl her hair.

" _Comfy…"_

Moon giggled, and I couldn't help but join in. Qibli was _way_ too cute.

" _Though I wish you hadn't worn the itchy sweater."_

"It's warm, though."

" _Point."_

I grabbed the blanket on my side, tucking it under my torso before I turned around to face Qibli. He had already decided to make himself comfortable, bunching the blanket up around himself, and I couldn't blame him. Saying it was nippy would be an understatement.

We stayed in that position for a while… sometimes shifting slightly, or turning one way or the other, or readjusting our grips on one another. Moon seemed understandably nervous for the first few minutes, but after a few affectionate nuzzles she melted into our collective embrace.

This was nothing new. The first few minutes were always a bit rocky… but eventually we relaxed. And things got better.

The only thing we had to fear when we were around each other were Qibli's _remarkably_ muscular legs kicking us in our sleep.

On that note, I leaned in even closer to the boy, pressing my lips to the back of his shoulder as I settled in for the night. Sure enough, the lazy patter of rain, the spiralling sparks of the crackling fire, and _their_ warmth… had me dozing off in minutes.

…

…

…

I didn't really remember waking up.

It's something that used to happen to me a lot; believe me, it's a lot easier to wake up in staggered steps than it is to wake up all at once. In essence, I swam in and out of consciousness for almost half an hour, until my brain finally began processing the world around me.

The pre-dawn light was greying and cool, belying just how cold it was outside; though I supposed that it didn't matter all that much. I was in almost the same position I remembered falling asleep in, except I'd drooled a bit.

I'd been so embarrassed the first time it had happened.

I wasn't anymore.

It was a nice feeling.

Despite the fact that I was semi-lucid, I still had no interest in moving; Moon and Qibli were both really comfy, and really warm, and really nice…

I'd almost slipped back into an unsteady slumber when Qibli sniffled.

"wazzat?" I asked, jolting awake almost instantly.

" _Ssh."_

" _He was sleeping fitfully."_ Moon whispered, taking his temperature with the back of her hand. " _He must've woken up at least a few times."_

Now that I thought about it, I could remember at least one occasion on which he had shifted enough to wake me up. At the time, I hadn't done much except try and become comfortable… but that had probably been a bad call.

" _You don't know that."_ she protested. " _Don't beat yourself up. You were tired."_

" _Yeah, but-"_

"Guys?"

For a second, both me and Moon were utterly speechless.

Then Qibli got up.

" _Dey!"_ he exclaimed, looking around at the semi-lit cave. " _Dood morning!"_

Then he frowned, sniffling a bit more.

"Are you alright?" Moon asked as I pressed my hand to his cheek, trying to gauge his temperature.

"My _dold_ is mostly gone…" he sniffled, "but _apparently_ now my _bucking_ _dose_ is blocked."

There was a pause.

"… _duys?"_ he asked, still sniffling slightly.

There was no response from me _or_ Moon. We were both a bit… preoccupied.

"…are you two _laughing?"_

Moon had, admirably, managed to hold her laughter in until this point. Unfortunately, it was having a rather detrimental effect on her; she was shaking, almost wheezing with giggles. I, of course, was practically rolling on the floor laughing.

For some reason, Qibli didn't find this very funny.

"You guys _duck."_

Moon gasped in mock horror. "You can't possibly mean that! We don't… _pfft… duck_ …"

She trailed off and began laughing again. I, being the gentlemen I am, decided to reiterate the point.

"She-" I wheezed, pushing some hair away from my face, "-she wasn't even able to finish the sentence…"

Qibli crossed his arms and pouted. "Come on!"

I finally stopped giggling, and sided up to him again, squishing my cheek against his. "Sorry, you're just… so… adorable!"

I punctuated each word with a kiss, leaving a trail of saliva from his collarbone up his neck and finishing with a strong peck on jaw. To emphasize my words, I wrapped my arms around his hips and squeezed him as hard as I could.

Moon finally stopped laughing (though she did have to hide her giggles behind her hand), and leaned forward to ruffle his hair affectionately.

"This is nice." she mentioned nonchalantly, trying to fix the cowlick in her hair. "I mean, I haven't felt that comfy in a _long_ time."

"We dhould make this a thing." Qibli said offhandedly, and then immediately glared in my direction.

" _Dot. A. Word."_

I kissed him again, which appeased him (and hid my snort of amusement), and then glanced over at Moon. An idea came to mind… just something I had read in a stupid romantic book a long time ago.

Without giving myself time to think about what I was doing, I threw myself forward, placing my left arm on the ground to stop myself from faceplanting, and pressed my lips to Moon's.

I could feel her surprise, though by the way she cupped my face I could also tell that the kiss wasn't unwelcome. Hesitantly, she opened her mouth.

We remained in that position for a few seconds, and then Moon pulled back. As her emerald eyes bored into mine, I was entranced by how the sunlight played across her; her face dappled with shade, her hair a labyrinth of shadow and light, and her ebony skin.

"That was terrible." she said.

"It sounds better in the books." I agreed.

"Hey," Qibli piped up, "as _dice_ as getting a good _dook_ at Winter's butt is, I'd _dike_ my blanket back. It's _dery_ cold."

Looking down, I realised that my exuberant kiss had thrown the blanket off both me and Qibli. Blushing furiously, I lay back down, pulling the blanket up so it covered the two of us.

Moon just sat there, cross-legged, inspecting me. The bottom of her shirt had shrunk a bit because of how unevenly it had dried in front of the fire, but that was hardly an issue- the thing had been about two sizes too big to begin with. Even now, the hem came almost halfway to her knees.

"Ummm…" I began.

Before I could process what was happening, Moon had fallen forward and captured my lips with hers again.

"…"

We pulled apart, and a thin line of spit hung in between us before Moon fell back onto her haunches.

"That was terrible." she said, looking at me expectantly. "But I don't really care. Do you?"

"…not really." I responded hesitantly. "…should we brush anyways?"

Apparently, my answer was good enough, as Moon left- presumably to get water for us to drink and brush our teeth with. Having nothing else to do, I resorted to hugging Qibli from behind- my body basically acting as a pillow for him. As we waited, I nibbled gently on his ear.

"You're _dipper_ this _dorning."_ Qibli said suddenly.

I paused. "Dipper?"

He rolled his eyes. " _Dhipper- no, duck-_ alright, you're… dappier?"

"Dap- oh, happier?"

He nodded miserably, and the look on his face was so cute that I kissed him again- and then a few more times for good measure.

"I guess…" I looked back on the past few days, "I'm happier. Yeah. I've never been this happy in my entire life, and you and Moon are a big reason for that, and I love you both."

He giggled softly, leaning further into me. I'd never realised it until now, but his hair was so poofy and soft that it felt like a tiny cloud.

" _Dove_ you too."

"Oh _goddd…"_ I nuzzled his neck violently, eliciting even more giggles. "You're _way_ too cute when you're sick."

Moon walked back in, carrying a small bowl of water. She set it down in front of the blanket, and then offered each of us our toothbrushes.

"Danks." Qibli muttered drowsily, almost falling face-forward into the bucket. I was about to stop him, but Moon got to him before me- gently pulling him back into a sitting position.

As he settled back into the crook of my arm, Moon blushed, and snuck another small kiss from him.

"I'm sorry!" she said, flustered. "I just couldn't resist."

"I know." I responded, pulling him closer as he shifted. "I think it's… like… _instinct_ to show him affection when he's sick."

He shifted even more, burrowing into my side, and then sneezed- a sound so high-pitched, dainty, and all-around cute that me and Moon both had our arms around him before we fully processed what was happening.

"You dnow, I should det shick more often."

I grinned as Moon ran her finger through his hair, trying to at least get it away from his eyes. "Don't wear it out."

As Moon and I brushed our teeth, trying to get rid of everything that was on there, I kept thinking about what it was that made me feel so good these past few days.

Moon finally spat out the last of her water, and then helped Qibli with his teeth. While she did that, I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest outside. Slowly, delicately, I slipped underneath the blanket, hoping to curl up into a more comfy position.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you see it,

"Dou never answered my duestion."

I rested my head on the bare skin of his stomach, staring up at him.

"I think it's something to do with… with how free we are."

Moon raised an eyebrow, and I grinned a bit.

"I mean, we don't really have any responsibilities out here to anyone but each other. And… I don't know, we're more open, and I like that."

Qibli sighed, content with the answer, and leaned back.

"… _is he asleep again?"_ I whispered, much quieter now so I didn't wake him up.

Moon inspected him, and nodded. Then she grabbed my hand, pulling me up so now I was eye level with her.

"What-"

She placed a finger on my lips, effectively shutting me up, and beckoned for me to follow her to the other end of the cave. Once we were there, she scraped her hand over a corner of the cave, and then swirled one of the fingers on her dominant hand around in it.

"I remember reading somewhere… that the soil found in caves like this can dye skin really effectively. And… I guess I wanted to try and do it to you?"

"You know what, why not. Go ahead."

"Another interesting thing about these… did you know that male birds usually have more colour than females so they can attract mates."

"…interesting _indeed."_

She glared at me with mock-anger. "Don't patronise me!"

"Sorry."

Her finger dipped into the faux-paint, and she began tracing small patterns into my face. I'd love to say that I was able to identify what they were from touch alone… but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

Eventually, I closed my eyes, letting her work her magic. I _had_ just woken up… but sitting with my head in my girlfriend's lap was pretty comfy.

And I let my mind wander.

Calling Moon my girlfriend felt _amazing,_ and I felt the same rush whenever I called Qibli my boyfriend. It was just that… this didn't feel like what I'd thought having a partner would feel like.

Of course, I'd assume that it would be incredible.

But I hadn't realised…

Besides, it almost felt dismissive to call them my partners. They were _so much more._

And I loved them.

…

I almost couldn't believe how far I'd come since Jade Academy. It's hard to quantify the change I'd undergone… discounting the scars. And the longer hair.

It was still hard to even think about what I'd done to myself. But _they…_ they made it all better.

" _I'm done."_ Moon whispered, and I opened my eyes to find her face hovering directly above mine, eyes brimming with curiosity and mirth and affection and laughter and a million other things that made her _her,_ and…

"…are you alright?"

I blinked, shaking my head softly. She tilted her head inquisitively, trying to prompt a response from me despite the fact that she could read my mind.

"I heard that." she said. "And yeah, I know what you're thinking. That doesn't mean I don't want you to _talk_ to me _."_

I sighed, closing my eyes again and revelling in the caress of the cool air, letting the brush of her fingertips soothe my mind.

"I don't know. My… _fucking_ head keeps going back to all these _memories,_ and…"

"…and you keep thinking about what you could've done."

I grimaced, knowing what was going to come next.

"Go ahead." Moon whispered soothingly.

And I inhaled.

"I know you don't, but I just have a doubting mind and I'm sorry. And it keeps thinking that you guys find me annoying and I keep imagining what would've happened if I _had-"_

And that's the point where I cut myself off by gasping for air. It helped that the sudden ingress of oxygen covered up my choked sob.

But Moon noticed.

Of course she did.

And she waited.

She waited for me to clear my head; to be confident in my ability to speak before she asked me more questions, because she knew that I was maybe five seconds away from breaking into tears.

Because she's awesome, and I love her.

"…Winter?"

Moon delicately touched my cheek, imploring me to stare up at her.

"You _do_ understand that I live for the two of you, right?"

I blink, about to respond… but a heavy weight in my heart stops me.

She continues, stroking my face. "Every single thing you do. every single breath you take… is a companion to me, pulling me along. I wouldn't give you up for the world."

I tried speaking past the massive lump in my throat… and failed. Trying not to make a fool of myself, I closed my eyes and choke out a small 'Thanks'.

Moon was silent for a long second.

Then she pulled me into her arms, rested her head on the nook between my head and my shoulder, and wept.

And I joined her.

Because goddamnit, I should've known better. I should've known better, and I was terrible, and I-

"Stop."

Moon trembled in my arms.

And that just makes us cry harder.

…

…

… _hey._

"Hey." she croaked, and I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet.

… _I love you so much it hurts._

Moon didn't say anything. To be perfectly honest… I don't think she needed to. I don't think we needed to say anything at that exact moment.

We had each other. That was enough.

And I couldn't begin to imagine a world in which we didn't.

"…so." I said after a long, almost-infinite-but-not-quite lull in our conversation. "Are you going to tell me what you've just done?"

She smiled lightly, thankful for the distraction.

I suppose we both were.

"…there's a bird-track on your torso… which is a symbol for light-hearted freedom… a morning star on your cheek for hope… and a dragonfly on your arm for happiness and… yeah."

"…thanks."

And that was about it.

After another few hours of talking about things that weren't important in the slightest, we decided to go wake Qibli up; a process that, if we're honest, was just a tiny bit more infuriating and time consuming than trying to drain the Atlantic with a spoon.

…well, that might be a _bit_ of an exaggeration. Rest assured, it wasn't the highlight of our day.

Regardless, after _that_ bit of minor (read: major) discomfort had passed, we set out again. The trek would hopefully take us to the edge of the valley, and from there we could either proceed further north; to civilization; or head south, into the untamed wilderness.

We hadn't actually discussed which path we'd be choosing.

 _That_ was going to be a fun conversation.

After a long day of walking, the monotony of which was broken up by Moon's conversation, and Qibli's… just being Qibli… we decided to stop and make camp.

…to be fair, walking is pretty boring. You can't really say make it all that much more interesting.

Moon decided to go answer nature's call, which left me alone with my boyfriend… who appeared to have burned all his reserves of energy by trying his best to keep us entertained on the trek; a job that wasn't _entirely_ thankless, considering how he was cuddled up against my side.

And as he did so, I tried my hand at a bit of poetry.

 _a startling shade of scarlet;  
serendipity on a Sunday afternoon, with the sickly-sweet nightshade cloying at the darkest corner of my mind  
looking for freedom  
for something to worship_

"That's… interesting." Qibli mentioned, resting his chin on my left shoulder as he inspected my writing.

I sighed, running a hand through his hair as I spoke. "It's not much… just me trying to write about something. For some reason, I just… can't."

He scratched me gently behind my ear. "I mean… you could write about everything around us."

"…dude."

"What?" he grinned, trailing his fingertips across my lips teasingly. "It's a valid suggestion."

"…you could put those fingers to _better use."_ I murmured huskily.

His grin widened. " _Your wish is my command."_

I licked my lips seductively… and brushed the words in the dirt away.

"Write. I'll dictate."

After he was done pouting (something which took quite a bit of time… though I wasn't complaining), Qibli followed my command, scooting forwards until he could write comfortably in the smoothened dirt.

And with only a slight pause… I began speaking.

 _after rain is… calmer  
petrichor perfumes the air; small puddles reflect eyes the colour of the sky  
and the people emerge, clutching at each other's arms  
wiping away the tears_

 _they are spent  
they are broken  
they are fearful  
but in the end… they remain standing; faces flushed, eyes wet, smiles tired and solemn._

 _the storm is never truly over  
but after the rain; after the wind has torn at our faces, and cracked our worn lips  
after the water has left us gasping for air, clawing at the empty remains of our hearts…_

 _it is calmer  
the aftershocks will shake the foundations, bringing down pillars and dreams; leaving behind clouds of dust and hope;  
and the remnants will remain_

 _but  
after the rain, everything starts over again_

 _the forest blooms in dazzling explosions of colour, the fireworks-fauna accompanied by a soft laugh, and a tight grin.  
the houses are rebuilt; made stronger, the foundations deeper, the fires warmer and redder and better  
the storm is never truly gone_

 _but I am happier._

 _we are happier._

 _and the sight of the sun emerging from behind the clouds  
brings me  
so much  
joy_

Qibli fell back onto his haunches, inspecting the words etched into the dirt. I'd had a few false starts, changed a few words… but it wasn't _that_ bad.

Granted, it wasn't all that _good_ either. If I was alone, I probably would've erased it immediately.

But I wasn't alone.

I would probably never be alone again.

And that was a good thing.

"…is this about us?" Qibli asked softly, eyes darting over the furrows in the soil. His lips moved in tandem with his pupils, silently singing the stanzas we had written.

"Yeah." I swallow, suddenly nervous. "Do you like it-"

My question was cut short by the unique sensation of his lips brushing against mine; delicately, as though I was fragile. I was reminded for a split second of our first kiss… and I smiled, angling my head so our foreheads touched.

"…joy."

His lips quivered in tandem with mine, twitching upwards with an airy sort of grace that I'd come to associate with him over the past weeks.

"I like that."

We remained like that for another few minutes, watching the sun go down. Soon, Moon joined us, and she assumed a position right next to Qibli; though she made sure I was within touching distance, which was… nice.

I still hadn't been able to parse my emotions. Anything beyond pure, utter happiness was incomprehensible to me.

Though that didn't mean much.

The sky went from a light, fleeting blue to a richer navy, but didn't fade directly to black. As the last of the light faded, the clouds become streaked with orange and pink and unassuming shades of red. They were the remnants of last night's storm; and their passing means that the night will be clear.

Which was nice too.

As the last of the light fades out of the sky, and I pull my lovers closer for warmth, the stars start to emerge from the inky blackness of space. They do so hesitantly, almost as though fearing retribution. But each time I look up, I see more.

I can tell that Moon and Qibli are similarly entranced, given how they're taking in the scene around them. Oddly enough, I want to watch them more than I want to take in the stars. I want to know exactly how they feel, what they're thinking, what's inside their minds…

Moon turned to me with a small smile, reaching out to brush my face.

 _Oh, yeah._

As the twilight began settling in, acting almost like a comforter over the infinite sky, it brought with it cool breezes and lightning bugs. Somewhere deep down, I knew that we had to set up camp… but somewhere _deeper_ down, I realised that I wanted nothing more than to… just _be there_ right then.

With only minimal hesitation, Qibli ran his hand through my hair, letting his mouth hang open. For a second I was tempted to gently touch it closed, but then he spoke.

"Aren't you ever scared?"

The question gave me pause. But before I could answer, he continued.

"Because I am. Always. Scared, that is. I'm fucking terrified, dude. And… and I get the feeling that you think that I'm not… and you think that it's wrong for you to be. So…"

He trailed off, rubbing his cheek. "…I don't know. I just-"

I placed a finger on his lips.

…I really am a repertoire of bad fiction tropes, aren't I?

"Of course I'm terrified." I responded, unsure of what I was trying to say but deciding to see it through.

"I'll always be terrified… of the world around me, and the things that it can do, and the things _I_ can do, and… just how cruel it is. That isn't going to change."

And with that, I drew in a deep breath, leaning back into Moon.

"But… I'm not _that_ terrified anymore. Not when you guys are with me."

There was another long moment of silence, punctuated by softly rippling water and the sighs of the mountain wind.

And then Moon spoke.

"Do you think it's time for us to go home?"

Qibli ruffled my hair as he thought.

"…not really, no. I… I don't know, this is just… better?"

He threw his arms up in exasperation. "Yeah, that's about it."

I contemplated the question for a few more seconds, aware of the two pairs of expectant eyes trained on me.

"…I think us being here… like this… I think it's a symbol."

"…go on."

"Well… do you think this is going to last?"

Moon frowned, and Qibli pulled back, a bit startled-

"No, not like that!" I clarify quickly. "Goddamn, I need to work on my phrasing."

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

I took a deep breath, and reach out to grip both their hands tightly. It sounds cliché, sure, but their fingers fit perfectly in between mine.

"…this." I rest my head on Moon's shoulder. "Just… us spending every single second of each day together, infinitely happy. Do you think this'll last?"

The silence wasn't deafening- it was broken up by the sounds of the forest, and the waterfall in the distance, and other such things. It was fascinating, honestly. It was… comfortable.

Qibli shook his head. "It won't. We… we know that! It's just… after that's over, it'll become something even better."

He leaned in closer, his blinding smile widening. "Haven't you ever thought about it? We could live in the forest together after school's out… ummm, Moon could help you in your scavenger research, and I could be… also there…"

He trailed off, suddenly getting a bit bashful. In response, Moon pulled him against herself.

"I always thought we would go to the Sand Kingdom, personally." she mentioned. "And… I mean, this is the honeymoon period! Afterwards… we'll each do our own thing. Together."

I can't help myself- I wrap my arms around both of them, kissing Qibli's forehead as I do so. "You guys are the best."

Moon slowly pulled me into an embrace. "Don't sell yourself short."

I grinned, falling deeper into her arms. "Alright… though that does make me think. What would _you_ do?"

She considered the question for a moment, trying (and failing) to ignore Qibli's lips on her wrist. With a beautiful smile gracing her face, she shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Maybe astronomy? Or… maybe I could become Starflight's apprentice. Or… anything, honestly."

I remained silent for a second, letting her hair cascade over my shoulder as she arched her back to remove some of the kinks.

"I mean, we have our entire lives ahead of us. Our. Entire. Lives!"

Her voice cracked on the last word, and I let her fingers find my arms… and run gently over my scars.

I know what she's thinking.

"…I'm sorry."

"Winter-" she accentuated the word with a firm tug on my chin to make me face her. "-don't you _dare_ apologise."

"You know that she's right, right?"

Qibli was sprawled across our legs, slowly cutting off the blood to my feet. Oddly enough, I didn't mind.

"We all fucked up. And then we forgave each other. And then we forgave ourselves. That doesn't matter. You wanna know what does?"

In a split second, he is on his feet, gesturing to everything around us. "We're here. The storm's over. We can rebuild… we can make everything better! And yes, there'll be more storms. Which makes it so much more important that we make the most of this time. Right?"

"…"

"…right?"

I bite down onto my tongue, closing my eyes as the flood of emotion threatens to pull me under and drown me. But at the last moment… Moon's hand slips into mine.

"Right."

And as the last of the stars blinked onto the dark canvas of the sky, the fireflies began to dance. The tiny pinpricks of light utterly saturated the woods. Everywhere we looked, there seemed to be hundreds; each one giving off a delightfully tiny glow that warmed us to the core.

They were tiny. They were insignificant, in the grand scheme of things.

Except they weren't, were they?

It was like a trance. I couldn't speak for the others… but I was utterly hypnotized by their movements.

And then Qibli kissed my forehead.

And Moon held my hand.

And I felt a wave of immense, pure, _utter_ joy crash down upon me from the heavens, and I felt so _incredible_ that it was all I could do to stop from throwing my arms up and cheering.

…that sounds weird. I guess you just had to be there to understand.

And then another one of my storybook ideas burst into my head.

… _why not?_

I gulped down my hesitation. "So… would you like to slow-dance under the stars?"

Moon answered the question by kissing my cheek, and Qibli simply held out a hand. "I thought you'd never ask."

….our waltz was hesitant, stuttering, unwieldy. It was awkward, and for the first few minutes, none of us thought it was going to work.

But that didn't matter.

Because soon enough we were flinging ourselves into the moves, spiralling across the forest floor with a sort of graceful abandon that was rare even at the best of times.

And _all_ those around us, and all those above… they danced too.

The stars above us swirled, twinkling as they waltzed across the void. Constellations swam in and out of view, the flashes of purple and neon blue and green and blinding whites making my head spin… in a good way, of course. The final vestiges of a distant supernova bloomed on the horizon; a flowery halo of brilliant red lined with massive gold streaks, green spirals, and a pretty dot of searing light in the midst of it all. Above us, the moons blazed with a frightening ferocity, and for a second I was aware of our insignificance in the universe, and how nothing we would do would ever matter.

Then I stumbled on a bit of rock and almost knocked myself to the ground.

"Whoa, there!"

The magic wasn't gone… but I was just about done for the day. So I retired to one side, content with watching _them_ twirl around each other in wonderous, loping movements that just made me love them more, laughing as the fireflies bobbed gently out of their way.

And, as I'm often inclined to… I began to think.

I like to believe that in the grand scheme of things, nothing matters.

But let's be honest here.

When I'm with them… every single moment is one I will remember till the day I die.

All of them matter.

 _They matter._

So what if we like to pretend that they don't?

And as Moon turned in time with the imaginary music, allowing Qibli to take the lead in their dance, I waited.

I didn't have to wait for long.

Soon, and with very little fanfare, they broke apart and stumbled over to me. Qibli reached me first, and tucked himself against my torso. Moon, on the other hand, sat down behind me, crossing her legs and taking my head into her lap.

And we sat there, watching the stars.

"You know…" I began, loathe to disturb the serene silence, "… I'm not opposed to going home. But for now…"

There was a pause. It didn't really matter. I mean… it did… but not in that way.

"…but for now, I… I just want to be with you guys."

And I meant it.

With all my heart.

The world seemed to slow around us, and a weird, dreamlike haze settled over me. I felt disjointed… yet connected… and held down… and so, _so_ free.

Moon was the one to break the silence. It didn't matter; except it _did,_ and I loved her even more for it.

I loved them. It made my heart soar.

"…hey,"

There was a pause in which both nothing and _everything_ was said at the same time.

"…do you think we're going to get any sleep tonight?"

I could almost feel the grin on my face as I responded, wrapped in their arms, staring up as the universe, that _infinity_ of incomprehension, revolved around _us_ and _us_ alone.

"Let's find out."

And for that night, and the ones that came before it, and many, many more that came after…

…we were wild.  
we were joyous.  
we were insane.

we laughed. we wept. we screamed at the skies, pounding the earth with our fists.

we remained tangled up within each other, sometimes so tight it became difficult to tell where one of us ended and the other began…

… and we were free.


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

 **A/N:** _ **[Morgan Freeman Voice]: After five months of nobody caring about this fanfic, the author finally decides to update.**_

 **Wondering why this chapter is chapter 28 despite the fact that the last chapter was 26? Well, it's because I was 5,000 words into writing chapter 27 (which, for the record, is some good shit) when I realised that I didn't want to release it right now. That'll come later. So here we are, I guess.**

 **Also I know parts of this are pretty bad. I just** _ **needed**_ **to get it out there right now, otherwise it would've been delayed for another half a year.**

The low thrum of volcanic activity shook the room. The basalt that lined the walls wasn't all that porous, but still allowed a decent amount of heat through.

Shimmer paid no heed to it whatsoever.

"…is it really you?" Gecko asked, slowly rising from the ground and stumbling over to the bars on unsteady legs. "No, it can't be. I must be dying, yes, that's it, dying from the lack of water and the incredible heat… and you are an apparition conjured up by my mind to remind me of what could have been!"

He pressed up against the bars, reaching through to try and touch her while the back of his other hand pressed against his forehead. "Oh, _woe is me-"_

She slapped him. Hard.

He recoiled from the blow, and for a second she was afraid he was simply going to topple to the ground. A smidge of concern grew in her heart.

Then he grinned, and the concern was replaced by an overwhelming amount of hatred.

"So, did you find that you couldn't stay apart from me after all?" he asked.

She picked up the bucket and prepared to fling the water at him through the bars.

"Nonon _onono don't!"_

Shimmer feigned and he flinched, sticking his tongue out so he might at least catch _some_ of the water. For a second he seemed shocked that he wasn't drenched. He unfroze, watching as she walked over to the side of the room and poured the water into a trough which transported it into the cell.

Then she dropped the bucket, assumed her disguise again, and prepared to leave.

"Shimmer-"

"Fuck off."

As she ducked through the entrance and began plodding back up to the surface, she revelled in Gecko's panicked cries. Part of her felt disgusted, but another felt… vindicated.

She paused at the top of the incline to readjust the bucket, which was beginning to slip.

And as she stood there, she heard the sound of soft, mournful sobs echoing down the corridor behind her.

She thought back to several years ago, back when Kiwi was still a child. He'd gotten into a flying accident and scratched up his face. It had left a scar.

She remembered him calling out for her, with the same mournful, reverent tone.

She sighed.

 _Goddamnit._

Dropping the bucket and the disguise, she took quick, deliberate steps down the incline into the holding cells. Gecko was curled up against the bars, trying to stop the tears but obviously unable to.

It took him a few seconds to realise that she was there, but when he did his eyes lit up with a light she didn't realise she'd missed.

 _No._ She shook her head.

He sniffled, reaching through the bars. "Sh- shimmer?"

"Shut up."

She sat down on the opposite side of the bars. "You have ten minutes, so you'd better start talking."

So he did.

 **~what am I doing~**

The fire crackled, dying down a bit as another bit of kindling was consumed. The embers around the edges of the fire were darkening, slowly crumbling to ashes as sparks spiralled into the night sky.

Licks of flame cast their flickering light onto two figures, huddled in shawls and blankets, sitting on opposite sides of the fire. One was a young man with a fledgling beard and an airy smile upon his face, and the other was a massive yellow dragon.

They made for an odd pair.

But that wasn't important.

"Let me…" the dragon began, pulling the blanket around his shoulders. "…tell you a story."

Sighing, the man sipped from a small wooden cup. "Is it one I've already heard?"

"No."

The dragon gestured towards an empty flask discarded on the ground, grimacing as the cold mountain air hit his exposed arm. "Blame the liquid courage, but I think it's about time you found out the _full_ story about how I came here."

The man raised an eyebrow, taking another sip. "That's a tall order."

Yellow guffawed in response. "Oh, Jasmine, there's _lots_ of things you don't know yet. Besides, it's almost time to set everything in motion, isn't it?"

Jasmine sighed, looking off to the side as he scratched at his face. "That's true. Before you begin, though, did I tell you about Rosie?"

"What about her?" Yellow tried to ask nonchalantly, avoiding eye contact.

"She's _fine,_ you great big goof. She's just… a bit disappointed that the dragon that kept showing up back home isn't coming back anymore. For a second, she thought I'd scared him off! Can you believe that?"

"Well, he _did_ stop visiting after you waved at him. Which, by the way, _why did you do that?"_

Jasmine shrugged. "I panicked. A wave is a perfectly good method of communication! Besides, it's not like I know their language."

"I keep telling you, it's not that hard!" Yellow countered. "Look, it's like this; ẉ̢͚͕̼̹͍̫̤̺̰̦ͮͨ̐̐ͧ͠h͛̃̋̋͏͎͔̙͔͜ą̶̯̘̻̖͉̺̱͚̻͍̻͆ͮ͌̀͊ͨͤ̓ͩͩͩ́ͅͅa̟̳͈̹̦̞͖͍͓̣͓̥̞͍̿̇ͥ̓͗ͧ̚͡͠ạ̡͖̖͍̪̾ͬ̌͌ͥ̂̿̏͋́̚̚͠t̢̺̲̬͕͇̗̠̜ͯͫ͐͌̿̈́̈̈́ͦ̅̓̏̔ͦͦ͠ ̶̮̭̟̭̰̞̞̜̼͒ͥͥ̌͆̏̀̽̐̈̓̔̾̑̒͐̂̓̚͟h̓̊͒̉̒ͤ̌̂̍̚͏̶̛̠̩̬͙͓́͢eͮ̇ͬ̾̂ͨ̿ͨ̽̊́҉̶̳͎͓͓̘̪͕̰̟͕̫̀ ̸̵̢̤̙̙͔̰̗̗͉̪̻͈̇͂̇ͫ͐̀ͤͦ͆̔͋͐̆ͥ̃̋̑f̵̯͈̠̞͉̻̤̤͎͙̮͓̭̫͚̪̺̪̻̈͑ͭ͌̂͆̾̉́͐͢͟͠ủ̶̵̫̲̳̮̳͚̬̟͚̝̭̇̇̎̒̋̀ͧͥͤ̍̄͝ĉ͚̗͈̰̜ͤͮ̐̆̉͊̽ͥ̏͊̽ͮͤ̇ͪ̅ͮ͜͡."

The scavenger rested his head on his chin.

"…no idea what that just was."

"It was 'hello, there'"

"Sounded like you were gargling with marbles."

"Urgh." Yellow threw his arms into the air, and then immediately retracted them into the shawl. "I guess you'll just never learn."

"And I'm alright with that. Anyways… what was that about a thing you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes!" the dragon exclaimed, throwing his head back and grinning. "I'd forgotten!"

"Is it a story?" Jasmine asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Because you know I'm a sucker for stories."

"You're in _luck,_ my dear fellow, for it is _indeed a story!"_

"Turn the showmanship down a notch; you're speaking like a man possessed."

"…you're no fun."

"Get on with it, and I'll see about getting you more drinks."

"…it all started seven years ago, on a night _juust_ like this…"

 _I was but a young, dashing dragon with naught to my name but my smile and dashing character-_

"You've used the word dashing twice in the same sentence, and I seem to recall you having quite a large inheritance."

"Hush, you. Now, where was I…"

 **~meet me in the woods~**

… _it was a night just like this; dark, mysterious, with an air of the unknown about it. I was a young,_ dashing, _absolutely_ fabulous _dragon, and had decided to take the time out of my rather busy schedule of parties and hungover afternoons to trek into the woods and really, truly, find myself._

 _Of course, I was about half an hour into my journey before I realised that I didn't much care for the outdoors. Ironic, isn't it?_ _Regardless; there I was, dirt on my perfectly manicured feet, sweat slicking my scales, and my pack digging into my ribs painfully. It was torturous, and before you interrupt, Jasmine… yes, I will admit that I wasn't quite as fit as I might've made myself out to be._

 _But I digress._

 _Imagine my surprise when, suddenly, the heavens exploded with light! Ah, it was a symphony of noise and colour that streaked the sky that night, a perfect symphony of chaos that crescendoed in a brilliant burst of fire and a resounding_ BOOM _that shook the very mountain I stood on!_

 _I still recall standing there, chest heaving, being gently rained on by red-hot bits of rock as I watched bits of the forest catch on fire… utterly gobsmacked by what I had just witnessed._

 _Of course, I had to go and see what it was._

 _It took me the better part of an hour and a complete disregard for my own safety- I scrambled over ledges, ran along riverbanks, even climbed a tree to see where the thing was! It was_ exhausting _\- and this isn't an exaggeration, Jasmine, stop laughing- and I was completely winded by the end of it._

 _But I'd found it._

 _Different people know it by different names. Once upon a time, your people would've called it a meteorite. In our dialect, we'd have called it a Skydrop. But I believe it was the denizens of this continent that came up with the best name for it;_

 _Starfire._

 _And as I dragged myself over the final ridge the skydrop had left as it bounced along the ground to come to a rest against an upwards incline, I found myself seeing exactly why they called it so._

 _It was a behemoth of almost incomprehensible mass and weight- I don't think our entire village would've been able to lift it if we'd tried. And it crackled and hissed and popped, rivulets of molten rock running down its sides and pooling in the ground around it. It radiated heat like some sort of positively eldritch furnace, a forge for the weapons of the gods._

 _I must've stood there for a solid minute, revelling in the insanity of it all._

 _I knew exactly what it was. Almost all Lightwings had been trained to recognise Skydrops on sight. But it had been actual centuries since I'd heard about one being found! And nobody had seen one land_ ever _before!_

 _Needless to say, I was absolutely ecstatic._

 _Then the Silverwings emerged from the forest._

 _Now, old pal, this is a tale of times long gone. Back then, the Lightwing-Silverwing relationship was much akin to a long-abandoned beaver dam. Still there, to be certain, but slowly breaking up._

 _My first instinct was to defend myself against them and try to claim the Skydrop for my tribe. It was entirely possible that they'd retreat, since they didn't know what I was capable of._

 _And then… then_ they _emerged from the woods._

 _They were held aloft on a litter by seven burly Silverwings, being fed grapes by an assistant. The instant they looked in my direction…_ oh, _instant fireworks._

 _Yes, Jasmine, this is going where you think it is. Oh, don't give me that look! You would've done the same!_

… _fine, that's a lie. Still, can you blame me?_

 _You can?_

 _Shut up and let me finish._

 _They beckoned me towards them, and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. They told me that they knew the state of tattered communication between the Lightwings and the Silverwings and claimed that they'd help me fix it. I'd be renowned as a hero!_

 _Now, I was never a particularly talented Lightwing. In fact, and you'll know this better than most, Jasmine… I wasn't much of a Lightwing at all. Granted, I struck up great conversations… but that isn't really what we were about, you know._

 _It was all practise and trying to figure out the best way to use our magic and making sure we could never hurt other people with it. It was great if you were a scientist, or an educator, or similarly inclined… but it meant that there was no place for the people like me…_

… _the ones who just wanted to have fun._

 _So, before you cast the first stone, I ask you this._

 _Would you have done any differently?_

… _your silence speaks volumes, my friend. Yet I am not so naïve as to believe that I haven't made massive mistakes, and that this was one of them. All I ask from you is a bit of perspective, and- hopefully, if it is not too much- your sympathy._

 _Besides, I wasn't ever in it for the fame. I just wanted people… who could understand me. And believe me,_ they _understood. I think they knew what it was like, honestly. Even to this day, after everything that has happened… I can't bring myself to hate them._

 _Just despise what they stand for._

 _But all that came later. Right now, I forfeited my claim on the Skydrop, and…_ they _took me home._

 _Oh, they were a sliver of moonlight, that night, just a whisper of a promise. I still remember it; satin skin fluttering in the gentle glow of moonlight, spine arced like the supine curve of a swan's neck, the heady musk perforating the air-_

 _Alright, stop hitting me! Ow! Fine, I'll stop!_

 _Sourpuss._

 _Anyways, the next morning we were all exhausted, having done adult things all night long, and before you throw that stone at me let me remind you that nothing about these brilliant exploits will ever reach your delicate ears, ya pansy._

 _Ow! Alright, I'll get on with it._

 _This wasn't too much of an indiscretion; back in the olden days it wasn't considered all that taboo for different tribes to mate. In fact, none of what I did was all that bad- and no, Jasmine, I'm not trying to downplay what I did._

 _I know._

 _Rather, it was the sum of a series of events that had been set in motion several years back, perpetuated by a power-hungry maniac._

 _Them._

 _You see, what I_ didn't _know as we copulated well into the night was that the Silverwings had been waiting on this impact for months at this point. Apparently, this particular meteorite was infused with a certain type of magic… a certain blend that could completely immobilize a Lightwing._

 _Yes. I don't know how they knew that's what it would do, or how they knew it. All I know is that bits of that meteorite could- albeit temporarily- suspend a Lightwing's powers. And, of course, we didn't know. How could we? The last Skydrop we'd ever interacted with was almost a thousand years ago, and it's not like one could research its magical properties without any samples._

 _So, the next morning they woke me up early, and told me there was a crowd waiting outside._

 _And I was elated._

 _So, naturally, we emerged onto the balcony and the crowd is going absolutely bonkers! The noise, Jasmine, it was a positively deafening roar of pure passion! I felt like the proverbial gladiator out to fight the lion._

 _I remember quite clearly the crowd going silent for a split second. Then my sweetheart grabbed my hand and hoisted it in the air!_

 _Ah, the cacophonous symphony. I loved it._

 _And, buoyed by the rush of adrenaline and endorphins, I followed them back inside._

 _This went on for… I don't know, exactly. Less than a week, for sure. But I was in a haze through it all. I think they might've been slipping something into my food, come to think of it. With that in mind, I'm grateful for the night I finally realised the truth._

 _After one of our sessions, I found myself craving a midnight snack. In my defence, we'd just gone at it for a really long time, and I've never been a light eater. Regardless, I extracted myself from my darling's embrace, tiptoed across the marbled room so as not to wake them, made sure not to let the door creak as I let myself out, and then headed down the stairs smack dab into the middle of a meeting of Silverwing diplomats._

 _Now, years of sneaking down to get snacks and seeing my parents studying around the kitchen table had given me the_ perfect _skillset I needed to avoid detection by these highly trained military professionals. Quick as a bee, I dove behind the kitchen island and hid there, listening to them talk._

 _It took me about twenty seconds to figure out what their plan was._

 _It took me about twenty-one seconds to realise that I was in over my head._

 _It took twenty-five seconds for one of the diplomats to realise he craved some chocolate sauce on his sauerkraut, walk over to the counters, and happen upon me lying prone on the ground._

 _What happened next… wasn't pleasant._

 _Suffice to say, it was three days later that I woke up in a dinky little cell with several fractured ribs, a whole lot of bruises and bleeding… it sucked. But like, there were other Lightwings with me!_

 _I'm ashamed to say that my first instinct was to obfuscate my role in what had happened. No, I definitely wasn't the type of person who would sell a newly discovered meteorite to another species before his own!_

 _A few solid kicks to the stomach robbed me of my tongue. And a strong hold on my windpipe meant I was no longer so strongly inclined towards lying to them._

 _So, after I told them what had happened, they all collectively had a go at me. Then they left me in a corner of the cell, bleeding and bruised and broken; both in mind and in spirit._

 _Now, in hindsight, I have absolutely no way of knowing whether these Lightwings had been paid off by the staff to turn me against my own people. In fact, I'm not sure if they were Lightwings at all._

 _Alas. Live and learn._

 _Two days of no food and very little water later, they took me back upstairs, where my sweetheart encouraged me to turn my back on those curs that had beat me to a pulp and left me for carrion in the depths of the dingy palace dungeons. Being delirious as I was, and not especially eager to want to anger my dear, I agreed._

 _And that was their downfall._

 _They thought they had me._

 _They swept towards me, curves rippling in the gentle moonlight and rumpling the cloth covering their wings. As they drew close, plump, bodacious lips gleaming, my mind cleared._

 _I realised what was happening to me._

 _I was gripped with fear so intense it hurt, burning me from the inside out. As they circled me, slithering in sinuous waves and sighing softly as they pricked my ear with their teeth, they must've assumed that my quick heartbeat and sweat were excitement, not terror._

 _The predator had grown docile, it appeared._

 _Again, I emphasize. They thought they had me._

 _They didn't._

 _With a burst of magic I haven't been able to replicate to this day, I wrenched myself from them and teleported back into the woods. Incidentally, I ended up in the same place the Skydrop had landed._

 _There was nothing left there except a massive impact crater._

 _I retreated to my village, only to find it abandoned. As far as I could tell… they'd been massacred._

 _The guilt weighs down on me to this day, Jasmine. And for the first few hours after I discovered what had happened… I was a mess._

 _What finally roused me into action was the distant shouts of Silverwing soldiers. I ran for days; trekking cross-country, sticking to the thickest forests, keeping off the beaten path. I ate naught but berries, almost poisoned myself…_

 _And eventually I emerged on the coast._

 _I didn't know much about boat building. But I built a small, rudimentary raft, with the idea that I could leave, and try to rest and recuperate. I planned to gather my senses, and then return to lead an offensive against the Silverwings._

 _What's that? It was a good plan? Of course it was a good plan, I thought of it!_

… _guess I walked right into that one, huh._

 _With that, I set out to the fabled continent across the sea, resolved to right my wrongs…_

"…and met the lot of you."

The fire had long since gone out; only a few smouldering embers remained. The moon hung high in the sky; it was past midnight.

Jasmine took a small sip from his flask.

"I remember meeting you. Half starved to death, washed up on the shore. It took a long time to nurse you back to health, and you refused to talk about your past."

Yellow took a big swig. "And now you understand why."

They sat in amicable silence. The night was chilly, but not uncomfortable. Yet.

Yellow had spent the past few years honing his powers; practising on other people, trying to figure out how they worked. He'd made a plan… a massive one.

The pieces had already been set in motion.

"So, this is what we've been fighting for?"

Yellow sighed. "Yes. Are you still with me?"

Jasmine didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

 **~cue Fortunate Son! Oh, that just sent me on a mental tangent about the Hivewing-Leafwing war. Takes** _ **"The trees are talking!"**_ **to a whole new level, doesn't it. Also, "** _ **They're in the trees!" "No, corporal, they**_ **are** _ **the trees."**_

Blue was utterly terrified.

It wasn't often that he ended up _as_ terrified as he was right now. Usually, either his ADHD or Green would've snapped him out of it, at this point.

Unfortunately, Green was currently having a panic attack, and his ADHD was staying suspiciously silent.

Perhaps because he had no idea what to do.

"Green!"

He clamped down on her arm, trying to stare into her eyes but finding that she had screwed them shut; her breaths were coming fast and short, and her hands were trembling. If it hadn't been for his prior experience with this, he would've thought she was having a stroke.

"Damnit, Green!"

He hated feeling this useless. Any problems he and Green faced, they faced together. And now that she was incapacitated…

 _Shut up!_ His mind screamed. _She needs you!_

He couldn't even use his special talent; chances were, having him inside her mind would freak her out even more.

And so, with a lack of any ideas… he improvised.

He wrapped his arms around her shaking form, drawing her into a tight hug. For a few seconds, she resisted, but then she melted into the embrace.

"Breathe, alright? Breathe with me."

Her breathing slowed, though not by much. Still, it was progress.

"You're doing great. Just keep going…"

Slowly, Green stopped hyperventilating. Her breathing was still coming in short bursts, though, and it almost hurt to watch.

"I- I-" she struggled to speak, and Blue hugged her tighter.

"No, don't speak, it's fine."

"I- I took memories from him, Blue." she wept, latching onto his arm so tightly that it must've left a mark.

Despite his best efforts, he was unable to stop a shudder from passing through his entire body. Green began pulling away from him, assuming he was disgusted, and he refuted the claim by pressing his lips against her cheek.

"No, it's fine-"

"And I sent them on that quest." she continued, trembling. "Qibli and Moon. God, I thought it would buy us time but now they might be hurt, they might-"

She bit down on her first, and Blue looked at her, stunned.

"Green, I-" his voice wavered. "-you tried your best."

She was openly sobbing now, and Blue did his best to comfort her. On some level he knew that everything would be fine, that things seemed hopeless now but that they would be better later.

But neither of them noticed the soft gasp of the camouflaged dragon in the hall with them or heard her rapidly retreating footsteps.

"It'll be alright." he tried.

He wasn't sure if it would work yet.

~ **two days later OR I don't know how to transition OR I wrote this entire scene before the previous scene and like it too much to cut it so the tonal shift might give you whiplash~**

Pluto had been outside, enjoying the consequences of not having transformed into an eldritch abomination overnight, when he stumbled upon the secret meeting.

It was a brilliant day. A light shower had just cleared the surrounding mountains of mist, and the sun was beaming down with abandon, causing a rainbow to arc gracefully over the mountain. Birds were chirping mirthfully, classes had been- rather suspiciously- let out for the rest of the day, and the entire Gold Winglet was taking a trip down to a nearby lake.

He'd be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy himself.

The fact that he was separated from the rest of the group, completely lost, and stuck in a palm frond wasn't going to change the fact that he was having _FUN!_

 _You're not having fun._ One of the voices in his head snarked.

"Yes, I, am!" he grunted, pausing in between each word to try and tug his leg out from the dense foliage. He didn't understand how it had happened. Did nature just hate him?

 _Probably._

"Well, then nature's in for disappointment, because I'm-" he pulled once more, feeling whatever his leg was caught on give, "-having a good time!"

Then, in a brilliant demonstration of Murphy's Law, Pluto found himself teetering on the edge of a gentle incline, off balance, with one leg in the air, falling away from the frond.

"Aw, shi-"

He tumbled down the hill, bouncing off evergreen trees and other miscellaneous plants, and eventually coming to a rest at the bottom of the hill, where he was brought to an abrupt stop by a pool of viscous mud.

For a while he just lay there. He could feel the mud oozing under his scales, and the pine needles stuck in awkward places all over his body, and his bruised ribs aching.

And then, to top it all off…

 _Told you so._

 _He did, actually._ The cacophony in his head voiced agreement.

"Aaaaargh!"

He extracted himself from the mud, screamed at the sky some more, and then trudged down to the riverbank.

Clay, Tsunami and Fatespeaker watched him stop at the edge of the water, pull a pine needle out of his ear, curse everything mother nature stood for, and then bellyflop into the river.

After a few seconds the Nightwing resurfaced, spluttering water and muttering expletives.

Then they made awkward eye contact.

It wasn't everyday that the teachers found themselves in a situation like this- especially since it was usually the students that were doing something they weren't allowed to do. As it stood, they didn't really know how to react.

"… _are you guys disposing of a body?"_ Pluto called.

"No!" Clay responded. "We're having a secret meeting! Also, it's kind of concerning that that's the first thing you thought of!"

Tsunami conked him over the head. "You don't just go around telling people about secret meetings, Clay!"

"You don't?" Fatespeaker asked. "I told Starlight."

"Ah, damnit."

Pluto began paddling towards them, mindful of the debris-filled wake his body was leaving behind. Fatespeaker tried to hide whatever it was they were working on, but soon realised it was futile, and left it behind.

As he came closer, he became more and more confused. What at first he'd assumed was a cadaver was quickly taking shape, becoming something more… grotesque, more eldritch.

 _It's probably a casket._

 _Or a tree._

 _Or…_

For once, the voices inside his head appeared to be completely dumbfounded.

Then each of them simultaneously began insulting the distant relatives of whichever maniac had decided to build that _thing,_ and he found himself slipping back into the comfort of knowing that everything was going terribly.

As he approached the bank near them, he was able to make out a vaguely curved design on whatever it was that they were trying to get rid of. Shaking his head to get the water out of his ears and spikes, he climbed out of the river.

The water cascaded off his body as he stood straight, panting lightly, hands clenched at his sides, spikes plastered to his neck. The sun glinted off his slick scales as he shook his head, sending droplets flying.

He spit out a pine needle and cursed.

"That was straight out of a bad romance novel." Tsunami said. "Well, except that last bit."

For a few seconds, none of them said anything, just looking at each other, seeing who would break first.

"Alright, I'll bite." Pluto crossed his arms, one eyebrow slightly raised; which, for him at least, constituted complete and utter disbelief. "What's it supposed to be?"

"What?"

"What's-" he hesitated, poking the thing with his leg. It shifted slightly, and he recoiled from it. " _-that."_

"Well, it-"

"Hey, guys." Starlight stumbled out of the foliage, almost falling into the river before he was caught by Fatespeaker. "I'm here! What'd I miss?"

"Not much-" Clay began.

"-because from where I'm standing it looks like you got some flotsam from the river, shoved it into a bush, used bits of awning to cover up the worst parts, and then summoned a demon to give it some semblance of structural integrity." Pluto interjected.

Clay, rather intelligently, elected not to rise to the bait and continued his discussion with Starflight. Tsunami was not as savvy.

"Pluto, you shut your heretical mouth. Clay cobbled this together in an _afternoon_ for us, and I will not have a _word_ said against it!"

"It's trash." the Mudwing interjected.

"Barely buoyant." Fatespeaker added.

"Wait." Pluto began connecting the dots. "This is a boat?"

"Barely." Sunny concluded, emerging from the woods with bulging saddlebags and a bandanna tied around her forehead.

"Aww, come on!" Tsunami threw her hands up into the air. "Who told _you_ about the secret meeting?"

"Starflight." she responded immediately, dropping the saddlebags next to the boat- right onto Pluto's foot. "And it's a good thing he did, too. This isn't like the old days, Tsunami! You can't just run off willy-nilly without a plan!"

" _Well,_ " Clay mused on Sunny's initial comment, ignoring their bickering and Pluto's sudden stiffness, putting the finishing touches on the 'boat' as he did so. "I wouldn't go as far as _that._ It'll get you guys up the river."

"Up the river?" Kinkajou asked, dropping down from one of the evergreen trees. "Why are you going up there? Ooooh, are we getting new stuff?"

"Kinkajou?" Tsunami asked. "Why are you here?"

"The secret meeting, duh."

Starflight groaned, scratching at his bandages. "Did anybody _not_ hear about this secret meeting?"

Kinajou rubbed her neck. "I don't know, man. You did tell Sunny about it in the middle of a crowded library."

Silence.

As though on cue, the ferns behind them parted to reveal a rather agitated looking Pike, along with nineteen other miscellaneous dragons.

Starflight sighed. "In my defence, I'm blind."

In some sort of delayed reaction, the pain from having his foot trapped under a bag that felt like it was filled with bowling balls hit Pluto all at once.

"aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

As Clay hoisted the saddlebag off Pluto's foot, leading to the Nightwing hopping around on one foot, cursing all the way, the distant sounds of two dragons arguing echoed through the clearing.

"… _you're having me on, that's_ not _how almond milk is made."_

" _Yes it is, you ignorant chameleon. You take the almonds, and you_ juice _them, and that's how you get the milk."_

" _Almonds_ don't have milk. _COME ON. Also, why isn't it called almond juice then?"_

" _Because almond milk sounds nicer."_

"No. I just… no." Firestorm concluded, pushing his way through some palm fronds as him and the remainder of the Gold Winglet spilled into the clearing. He was arguing emphatically with Brook.

"I _refuse to believe-"_

"She's right." Anemone, who looked like she'd rather be _literally_ anywhere else, interjected. Pike clutched at his chest, relieved and began making is way over to her.

"Aw, c'mon!" Firestorm protested.

"I've seen it done, dude. I watched as the palace workers juiced the almonds and then added _water._ You think I wish it wasn't like that? It's positively _cursed._ "

"Well, I- oh, hello."

The entire winglet stopped, suddenly realising that they'd found themselves in the middle of a tense Mexican standoff. Tamarin continued walking for a split second longer, until she ran into someone in front of her.

"Ow!"

"I know the pain." Starflight commented gravely.

"Wait, this isn't the underground lake." Brook suddenly realised.

"Were we supposed to go left at the palm fronds or right?" Anemone mused.

"You were supposed to go right." Pike said, crossing his arms. "And I was supposed to scout ahead. Tell me, Anemone, you didn't just go left in the hopes that you'd lose me, right?"

Anemone gulped, and didn't answer.

"Well, looks like everybody's here." Sunny said, clapping her hands together.

"EVERYBODY! Hey, pay attention! Yes, I was talking to you! Come on, don't ignore me! So help me god- _ah, good._ Now, as you all may know, a few of our students went missing a while back."

"Technically, Glory lost them." Tsunami interjected. "But nobody ever brings that up."

"What was she supposed to do, Tsunami?" Sunny turned to her friend. "Keep them on a leash?"

Anemone made a quiet choking sound.

"Probably."

The choking became louder, almost becoming a loud coughing. Pike tried to give her the Heimlich but was quickly shrugged off.

"I mean, at this point, it's clear that we couldn't trust them to _not_ get into trouble. I mean, they just got done saving the world, didn't they? You remember how much stupid stuff we did after _we'd_ just finished saving the world?"

Sunny paused to think. "…founded Jade Academy?"

"Exactly! Dumb shit! Anyways…"

Tsunami knelt, pressing her talons into the mud and then wiping them under her eyes, making her look like a warrior queen.

"We're going to bring them back," she mumbled gravely, " _if it kills us."_

Carefully, she removed the bandanna from around Sunny's head, and wrapped it around her own.

" _And then I'm going to kill them."_

Sunny hit her over the head with an empty saddlebag.

"OW!"

"Don't pay her any mind." the headmistress continued. "We don't know _why_ out missing students haven't returned. I mean, one assumes they wouldn't leave us without any information on their whereabouts for weeks on end, causing us to worry about it day and night, willingly!"

She shook her head, trying to rub away the circles under her eyes. "Definitely not. Anyways, it's entirely possible that the reason they haven't returned is that they're injured! Or trapped! Or-"

"-having a good time?" Tsunami interjected. "Let's face it, Sunny, they're probably playing hooky."

Sunny's eye twitched, and she bared her teeth in a malformed, evil grin. "Well, until we're certain they're safe, we're not going to jump to conclusions. For now, we're going to _get into the goddamn boat, and go rescue them. Got that?"_

"Wait," Brook interjected, finally looking up from her talons "there's like five of you. Wouldn't it be easier to fly there and just carry them back once you find them?"

Clay laughed; a warbling, throaty sound.

"You really think we're all going to leave you behind?" he chortled. "Sunny and Tsunami are heading out, and the rest of us are going to stay behind and _study."_

The student body groaned at the emphasis on the last word.

"Oh, pipe down!" Starlight complained, raising his voice. "Why, when I was your age I had to rebel against the bourgeoisie, unable to trust anyone but my closest of friends and almost dying multiple times! I would've loved to study at an institution like this!"

Silence.

"…studying isn't interesting though."

"Alright, WHO SAID THAT?"

Fatespeaker had to hold him back to stop him from lunging in the general direction of the dragon who had said that. The entire student body took one step away from him, while Anemone slowly keeled over laughing on the ground.

"Aaaand that's done!" Clay stood up, patting the dust away from his brow as he admired the raft. "It'll get you where you need to go no problem. Hopefully. Now, do either of you know how to row?"

Tsunami and Sunny looked at each other.

"…not really."

"Well, you'll just have to learn." he shoved the edge of the raft into the water, letting it catch the current so it was now parallel to the flow. "Get in now."

Sunny paused.

"What?"

"Get in." he gestured towards the boat, which was looking more unstable by the second.

"Yeah, but… that's it?"

Tsunami, who was already in the water just next to the boat, rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I mean, what did you expect? A farewell ceremony?"

"…it would've been nice." she mumbled.

"Just get in."

The Seawing stabilised the craft as Sunny clambered on, banging her limbs on all the odds and ends and almost getting tangled into the netting holding the raft together. Then they began moving up the river, Tsunami propelling them by holding onto the front of the raft with her talons and flapping her wings as though she was flying.

They were around the corner in no time.

For a few seconds, nobody was sure what to do.

Then Clay turned.

"Well, our one responsible adult is gone. Who wants s'mores?"


	30. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A quick note before the chapter begins.

I wrote this over about four months. I began work on it after realising something pretty important about myself and trying to come to terms with it. So, everything in here's incredibly abrupt and barely makes sense; much like the aforementioned realization. Anyways, try to enjoy. More lighthearted content coming soon. Also, I am still working on Butterflies, it's just really, _really slow._ The next chapter actually rivals this one in length; and about the same amount of emotion, actually. But it has jokes too. Keep that in mind. It's not all depressing.

Peace.

 **It's Snowing Like It's the End of the World.  
** _ **-Krobak**_

 _Onyx had told her._

…

…

 _Onyx had told her everything._

 _Everything._

 _Every single thing._

 _And Snowfall, with those star-studded eyes and scales like constellations, had held her._

 _And Onyx had let her._

 _There wasn't any use resisting anymore, was there?_

 _The deed was done._

 _She was already sinking below the surface. She could almost imagine her head disappearing under the waves… drowning._

 _And one day, her body would reach the bottom of the ocean, kicking up sand and kelp and the ghosts of things left unsaid._

 _What would she do when that day came?_

… _she didn't know. And honestly, part of her didn't care._

 _She was just…_

…

…

 _numb._

 _._

 _Snowfall lightly stroked her face, those ethereally blue eyes appearing above her as though out of a dream, and Onyx was suddenly struck by a veritable tsunami of utter dread._

" _Don't leave me." she pleaded finally, voice hoarse and tired yet still terrifyingly desperate. "I- I couldn't bear it if you did."_

 _Snowfall smiled. It wasn't happy, it was just… relieved, she guessed._

" _I won't."_

 _And Onyx wanted to tell her… she wanted to tell that_ incredibl _e girl just how much she meant to her…_

 _Of what each gentle reassurance and delicate touch translated to on the inside of her semi-shattered mind, of the incredible emotions and colours that sparked across her eyes when she even thought her_ name…

"… _it's cold."_

But she couldn't.

…

The instant Snowfall had realised how cold Onyx was, she'd practically dragged the girl to her study. It was two stories up and revered as prime real estate for visitors; mainly because there was a fireplace.

"Most of these books wouldn't survive in subzero temperatures." Snowfall had said by way of explanation. "Some ancient animus enchanted the ice in this room to never melt; so we could always keep it warm."

The room had one entrance that doubled as an exit, one that wasn't really all that well-lit. The solid mahogany doors were inlaid with spokes and five-sided stars, which really didn't contribute to the otherworldly atmosphere of the room proper.

There was a fireplace in the cosiest corner; a wicker-metal affair, and one that was powerful to boot. The pokers were obviously incredibly old, but they didn't show any signs of rusting or degradation. There was no firewood; just the flames themselves, roaring into the chimney and propagating warmth into the room.

The area around the fireplace was amazing. There was a shaggy carpet that was so thick her talons sunk into it like fine sand, and comfy sofas arranged in a loose semicircle. Each one was ornate; the sort of thing that you'd expect would have complimentary pipes and evening gowns with. Simply put, it was positively Victorian; and the odd aroma of oak and smoky mahogany simply added to the atmosphere.

A few paperbacks were stacked atop tiny tables kept within arm's reach of the seating, but none of them could detract from the true attraction.

Rows upon rows of bookshelves extended into the darkness of the far side of the room, each one straining under the weight of countless dusty tomes. Most of the books were incredibly thick, their bindings almost falling apart and a few pages poking out of the tops and sides. At regular intervals, there were indexes and trinkets haphazardly affixed to the bookshelves and books themselves.

That bit looked alive… lived in.

The part of the floor that wasn't carpeted was inlaid with intricate patterns; starbursts of yellow and red made the perfectly symmetrical hexagons and dodecahedrons seem even more out of place.

Perhaps it was meant to be taken as a symbol; splashes of paint against dull shapes.

The icy walls stained cornflower-blue by the night were distant; emotionless. Moonlight spilled through every window, and though the fire provided some light, it was barely visible beyond the first bookshelf.

Onyx was huddled in front of the fire. Snowfall had tried to join her there, but it was far too uncomfortable for her, so she'd elected to stand back.

She could only imagine how the girl was feeling.

Powerless, perhaps.

Onyx missed the Icewing's comforting coolness against her skin. She shouldn't have; it would only exacerbate the cold.

She wondered if that was a symbol too.

"Can I tell you something, Snowfall?" she asked, not turning.

Snowfall swallowed. "Yeah."

"For the longest time, I thought that loving other people was like drowning."

She reached for a random paperback, turning the book over in her hands without really looking at anything in particular.

"You'd succumb to the waves, sink far, _far_ below the surface…"

Somewhere within the massive palace, a door creaked open and closed. Neither of them acknowledged the subtle intrusion.

"…and for a while, I wondered what I would do when I hit the ocean floor."

The silence was interrupted by the crackling fire. Snowfall didn't make to speak or respond yet; she would wait until Onyx had said her piece.

"The question is flawed, Snowfall. I realise that now."

Onyx turned to face Snowfall, and the moonlight seemed to take its time traversing every part of the Sandwing's body; each scale, each scar, each curve, each edge… every single thing that made her _her._

Onyx trembled as she spoke, unaware of how brightly she shone.

"…it's not about what's going to happen when I hit rock bottom." she smiled sadly. "It's what I do between the fall and my inevitable demise."

 _Inevitable. Demise._

Snowfall's jaw clenched, and she wanted nothing more than to run across the length of the room, over the patterns inscribed into the floor and sweep her up into her arms and beg Onyx to understand just how incredible she was.

But she couldn't.

This was something Onyx would have to do herself.

The Sandwing shuddered, trying to maintain her composure even now. "I hate it, but… I can't keep living in fear. I just can't."

 _Oh god._

The realisation of what was about to happen hit Snowfall like a ton of bricks, and all at once; it wasn't like she had any time to prepare for it.

And she hated that she felt like that.

"So, I don't know if I love you." Onyx said, running a talon along her own cheek. "I don't know if I ever will."

 _Please don't._

"But … I'm willing to try."

Before Onyx could draw another breath, before another heartbeat had passed, even before the last syllable finished rolling off Onyx's tongue; she found herself being held by Snowfall.

And there were tears.

And they surprised her.

Because they weren't hers.

The crystalline droplets were a light purplish-blue in the moonlight, glinting off her tawny scales. Their origins could be traced up past her chest, past her collarbone… to the teary-eyed Icewing trembling into her shoulder.

"You're crying." Onyx said, much like someone might say 'it's snowing' or 'nice shoes'. It was so pedestrian that Snowfall laughed out loud, aware of what a sorry state she must be… but also not caring if Onyx saw her in it.

"Yes, Einstein." her mouth touched Onyx's ear delicately. "It's a thing people do when they see people they care about hurting."

"I-"

Onyx paused, unsure of what she should've said. It was… odd. Their roles had just been reversed.

"Hmm?"

"I…" she looked away. "It's weird, but you've just seemed… infallible ever since I met you."

Snowfall smiled against Onyx's skin. "I'm trying to be strong for _you,_ dear."

Onyx pulled back slightly.

They were mere inches away from each other. They were so close that she could see the redness in Snowfall's eyes, the tightness in her smile, the dimples just above her cheekbones…

She removed herself turned, took two steps to the fire, and dropped to her knees.

"Why me?"

Snowfall raised her arms… and then dropped them right back down.

"Just… because." she said, defeated. "I mean, how is that even a question?"

"Because I'm nobody?"

Snowfall sighed. "I wish I could show you how much you mean to me, you know. But I can't."

She hung her head.

"Could you try?" she asked, unsure of what she wanted. It definitely wasn't validation.

"…do you truly want me to tell you?"

Onyx gripped her shoulders, turning her head so she could just barely see Snowfall standing there, looking so despondent-

She closed her eyes, turning back to the fire with the desperate hope that the flames would burn away the words and the tears.

"I _care_ for you, Onyx. I care so much it _hurts."_

Onyx squeezed her arms tightly. It felt like she'd just been doused with cold water; shock like a knife to the heart, and then nothing but numbness.

"Everything I do… it's because of you."

She didn't see the look on Snowfall's face, but she heard the girl's shuddering inhale and it _hurt._

"But…" she protested weakly, aware that she was grasping at straws. "…we haven't even known each other that long."

The wind howled a bit longer. The edges of the windows were now caked in snow.

"Do you seriously believe I don't know that?"

Snowfall began talking faster, and Onyx could tell that she was pacing.

"I've only known you for a week. I've barely gotten to know you, and in that time you've become completely fucking dependent on me. You're broken and you're afraid, and I'm the girl who's brought you back from the brink. You don't even know if you love me or not, because I'm all you have."

The steps became more and more frenzied, Snowfall's voice becoming more frazzled as she went on.

"I know, alright? I fucking know. But did you ever consider what _I'm_ going through?"

She hadn't. She hadn't, and that simple fact made Onyx clench her teeth tighter, and lean towards the warmth of the flames.

"My entire life I've been surrounded by people who don't care about me. My parents didn't love me _ever,_ and I screwed up my relationship with my brother so badly I'm certain he'd never want to talk to me again!

Snowfall grasped her head with her hands, speaking through gritted teeth.

"B-but it's- it's irrelevant! All of it is, because I have the opportunity to make things right for _someone else,_ someone I _care_ about, and- and I can't even do that!"

She sighed, stopping to stand in place.

"I know what's wrong here, Onyx." she said. "I'm certain you do too. It's just… I don't think it matters. I don't _want_ it to matter."

Onyx swallowed.

"But what will you do once I'm gone?"

There it was.

The question that neither of them had been willing to ask.

"Once."

The word echoed.

"Once you're gone."

There was a silence.

"Once you're gone." Snowfall repeated, as though testing the taste of the words against her tongue; how they felt when she said them aloud, how they rolled around in her mouth.

"You-" she gasped, gripping her head in her talons. "You speak like it's an _inevitability!_ Like you're just _waiting!"_

"I'm really not." Onyx said. "It's just… it's going to happen one day. You know that. I know it too. So… what will we do?"

They stared each other down; Snowfall standing tall, almost begging Onyx to take it back; and Onyx looking up at her lover, mouth pressed into a fine line, as though looking for guidance but knowing that she wouldn't find any.

The windowpane rattled. Old wood creaked. The fireplace crackled.

All was still.

"…what will we do indeed."

Snowfall slumped down next to Onyx, taking her hand. The gentle coolness of her scales, their icy whiteness broken up by the orange of the hearth, comforted her.

They sat like that for a while.

…

…

…

"My parents are gone, you know." Snowfall mentioned nonchalantly. "Not like you will be, hopefully. But… I can see some similarities there."

Onyx brushed her hand over Snowfall's.

"Can you?"

The other girl nodded but didn't elaborate further.

…

…

"…my parents are gone."

Her voice broke.

Not in the traditional sense, where it cracked an octave higher. No, instead, in the course of saying those four words, every single one of the walls she had so carefully erected around herself broke down.

She squeezed her hand tighter, and Onyx tried to return the gesture. Snowfall was _trembling,_ hunched over with her back against the armchair and infinite regret in her eyes.

"My parents are gone. And I fucking hated them, a-and-"

The tears burned hot trails down her face, but she didn't move to wipe them away.

"And they're gone."

Onyx could hear the shrug in her voice, a futile attempt to dismiss her own feelings. "They're gone. And it shouldn't h-hurt, but it- it does, because…"

The wind howled.

"…now I'll never be able to even pretend that they loved me."

She laughed, but there was no joy in it.

"My parents are gone! A-and you're telling me that soon you'll be too?"

Onyx licked her lips. "Snowfall, I know how you're feeling-"

"You know how I'm feeling?" Snowfall asked incredulously.

"Joy has been stolen from me over and over and over." she growled. "You've lost people you loved? Try never having them in the first place!"

The words echoed in the desolate space, and immediately Snowfall clapped her hands over her mouth.

Silence.

…

…

…

"I-I'm sorry," Snowfall began, "I wasn't thinking-"

"You're right." Onyx said. Numb to the core, like the ice that had surrounded her since she'd arrived in this accursed place had finally spread to her heart and taken root, the crystals unable to shatter, unable to feel…

"You weren't thinking."

She breathed.

"…do you ever wonder if we'd be better off having never meant?"

Snowfall froze.

Onyx continued. "Like, if I'd just died out in the wastelands and you'd-"

"Onyx." she stopped the Sandwing with an iron grip on her arm.

"What would you have me say?"

Her mouth hung open, equal parts shock, rage and sadness.

"That I only wish I'd known of you sooner?"

The blood thudded loudly in her ears, thrumming like drums from the depths. She was scared, gods, she was _terrified-_

"That I want to remain by your side till the end of days? Because I do!"

Snowfall raged, face contorted into a grotesque image of grief and anger even as the blizzard outside picked up the pace.

"That I wish you'd do the same? That you never had to leave me? I do!"

And part of Onyx knew that it didn't matter one bit, and that she shouldn't have been pushing Snowfall as hard as she was, and-

"That you're-" Snowfall ran her hand down her face, "-that you're everything to me?"

She didn't want to say it, she _didn't_ want to put Snowfall on the spot, but she had to know, good lord she _had to-_

"Do you love me?"

The room fell silent.

"…no."

"What?"

"No, I don't." Snowfall said, looking over her shoulder.

Onyx swallowed, aware she was digging her own grave but unable to bring herself to care.

"Why?"

"Because I _can't!"_ Snowfall screamed, flinging herself around to face Onyx.

…

…

Slowly, Onyx tilted her head upwards to look Snowfall in the eyes.

She was breathing hard, tears speckled like stars across her face; curled up delicately at the edges of her eyes and hanging like dewdrops from her eyelashes. Even as her voice cracked, and her face flushed, and her mind burned… she looked powerful.

Not beautiful.

Snowfall had transcended that long ago.

"I- I can't love you, Onyx." she whispered, voice shattered-but-strong and melodious like the tinkling of bells. "I just… I can't."

There was a fog slowly settling over her mind. Onyx was acutely aware that she couldn't just stay silent, that- that she needed to _move…_ but nothing felt real.

"Onyx." Snowfall gasped, pleading.

It didn't feel real.

It- it didn't feel _real._

 _It wasn't real._

"ONYX, SAY _SOMETHING!"_

 _And that was the moment the world around them shattered. The shards of the night flew in all directions, slicing into her skin like daggers… but she couldn't bring herself to say anything._

 _She couldn't bring herself to feel._

" _Say something!_ Anything! _PLEASE!"_

 _Onyx kept her head low as Snowfall screamed, more out of desperation than anger._

" _You_ know _!" she said, knowing that all of this was the wrong thing to say and do and she shouldn't be doing any of this, but being unable to stop herself. "You_ know _what's wrong!"_

 _Each word Snowfall threw towards Onyx seemed to skitter to a stop just before impacting her, and it made her irrationally angry. What_ right-

 _She stopped, breathing hard._

 _And then she fell to the ground._

…

…

" _W-why am I doing this?" she asked, her voice coarse as sandpaper. "I-I don't hate you, I'm not even angry…"_

 _Snowfall trailed off, aware of the sweat beading her brow._

"… _is this what it's like to feel?"_

 _The fire cackled loudly, mocking them both._

" _Does it feel like your heart is being pulled out through your throat?" Onyx asked tenderly._

" _Y-yes."_

" _Are you angry at me, even if you don't want to be?"_

" _Yes!" Snowfall was almost in tears, pleading. "_ Gods _yes."_

" _Are you scared?"_

 _Snowfall fell silent._

"… _yes."_

 _Shadows fell across her face in waves, and Snowfall knew that they were mere inches away from losing each other forever._

"… _I'm scared." she admitted, pressing her palms into the cold floor. "I'm scared, because I've never ever done this, and I'm going to mess up, and I feel sick and-"_

 _She stopped, because she knew that if she kept speaking, she would never stop._

" _Onyx, I don't think I'm capable of love."_

 _Strands of moonlight spun through the air as though on a loom, the night weaving a tale of great tragedy and shock._

" _What?"_

 _Snowfall whimpered, kneading her palm against her eyes. "I care for you, Onyx. I can't say it enough,_

"… _but you don't love me."_

 _She sighed, softly shuddering. It was heartwrenching, but Onyx didn't feel a thing._

 _Maybe she didn't have a heart._

" _It's fine." she continued, the words numb even to herself._ " _We can't be in love. We've only known each other for a week."_

" _You don't understand." Snowfall crawled over to Onyx, lying down in her lap. "I don't think I've ever loved anybody. Romantically. Ever. And I don't think I ever will."_

"… _really?"_

 _She nodded, unwilling to meet her gaze. Slowly, she drew her arms and legs in for comfort. Her scales blushed a delicate navy in the sparse light, but it was melancholy._

" _Look at me." she laughed humourlessly. "Trying to justify my own crappy existence."_

 _Onyx didn't respond, instead electing to softly stroke the scales along Snowfall's jawline._

" _Trying to justify every single thing I've ever done wrong."_

 _She said nothing._

" _Trying not to hate what I've done to you-"_

" _Snowfall." Onyx interjected finally._

 _The girl looked up at her, eyes shining with fear in a way Onyx could never have imagined but a week ago._

"… _you don't need to love me." she insisted. "You don't need to love anybody. It's… it's just the way you are."_

 _Snowfall closed her eyes, sinking deeper into Onyx's embrace. Both of them dutifully ignored the tears._

"… _does that make me a hypocrite?" Onyx pondered aloud, mostly to fill the silence._

 _Snowfall took a deep breath._

" _No more than me, I suppose."_

 _The world around them had changed, from a distinctly fluffy midnight indigo to a bleak mess of dark blue and grey._

 _And they lay next to each other, wishing that things didn't have to be this way._

…

…

…

" _What was it like?" Onyx asked, almost afraid of the reply._

"… _bad." Snowfall replied. "Just… bad."_

" _Gods, I- I can't even imagine-"_

 _Snowfall was indifferent and yet not. "_ You _could. I don't mean to presume, but… you know what it's like to have no idea who you are."_

 _Onyx cackled mirthlessly. "It feels like a lifetime ago… but yes. I was… filled with bitterness at everybody who had wronged me. And when I stopped seeing the point to that… yeah."_

 _They lapsed back into silence again. It wasn't really uncomfortable anymore… just a necessity._

" _It felt hollow." Snowfall sniffled, her velvety voice rolling like waves. "Like… being_ empty, and… _full of doubt, and… and…"_

 _She shouldn't have said anything. Now that she'd begun, she didn't think she could stop._

" _I felt sick sometimes." she continued, talking faster with every word. "And trapped. And I hated myself because I didn't feel anything, but I fucking_ wanted _to because you're incredible and you deserve someone better…"_

 _There was absolutely no space between the two of them, but it seemed to Snowfall like she was surrounded by a moat of her own design._

" _I don't deserve your love." she insisted, the words ringing hollow even in her ears. "Not anymore, anyways."_

 _Onyx circled her arms tighter around Snowfall's torso, resting her cheek against the Icewing's left shoulder._

" _You don't believe that." she whispered._

 _And she was right._

" _I don't."_

 _Snowfall found herself holding back tears as she continued. "I don't believe it, but I want to, I- I need to!"_

 _The words were coming faster now, as her breaths grew quicker and the gaps between them shortened._

" _All the things I've said, all the things I've done-"_

" _Stop."_

 _The word hung in the air between them, and for a second it seemed like the world had frozen in place. Dust motes remained suspended in the air, glinting in the sparse torchlight, undisturbed by either of their breaths._

 _It was deathly quiet._

 _It felt like the world would shatter like crystal if either of them moved too fast, spoke to loud… even dared to breathe in the impossible silence that pressed down on them like an ocean, as though they were leagues below the surface._

 _Then Onyx pressed her muzzle against Snowfall's neck, pulled her back so they were curled up against the wall, and began singing a song._

 _She was hesitant as she sung, afraid to shatter the moment by singing too loud. In the freezing night, though, her words resonated among the icy walls. The notes themselves were raspy, and not always on key._

 _It was the most beautiful thing Snowfall had ever heard._

 _For minutes after the final word had stopped echoing, they remained tangled up in the other's embrace. At this point Snowfall had wept so much that she thought she had no tears left to give… but she'd been wrong. Though, as some form of small comfort, they weren't the choking, heartwrenching type- more a silent acknowledgement of her constrained emotions._

 _Onyx bumped her lips against the tracks the tears left down her face._

" _Please smile." she whispered oh-so-softly._

 _So the protected becomes the protector, the student the teacher, the broken the saviour, the powerless the powerful._

 _Irony is cruel that way._

 _And with that, Snowfall's gently heaving chest finally calmed, and she turned back to Onyx with ocean eyes broiling with sorrow._

" _Don't leave me." she pleaded finally, voice hoarse and tired but terrifyingly desperate. "I- I couldn't bear it if you did."_

 _Onyx opened her mouth to respond, but Snowfall continued._

" _I know th- that I have no right to ask you-" she coughed, trying to force out the lump in her throat, "-b-but please, just, stay."_

 _Onyx held her closer, the hint of a smile dancing across her beautiful face._

" _I will." she mumbled, letting her nose rest against Onyx's. "I promise."_

The world seemed to warp back into place around Snowfall's next words.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." she whispered. "Just-"

"No."

Onyx didn't know what she was doing. All in all, the icy blade of fear was still lodged deeply in her heart.

But she knew that Snowfall was hurting.

So she would be strong.

"Maybe one day we won't need each other anymore. Maybe one day we'll hurt each other so badly we can't ever be together. I don't know what the future holds, Snowfall. Nobody does."

She extended her hand, brushing against the Icewing's scales.

"But until that day comes, we will be by each other's sides."

Quick as a wink, she grabbed Snowfall's hand.

"We're both broken people." Onyx said with finality. "Shattered from the inside out. And… and maybe what we need is to be able to heal with one another, right?"

"B-but-"

Snowfall sobbed, the sound crashing into Onyx's chest like a dagger. Eventually, she sighed, and managed to speak. "…I don't know if I can do it. I-I don't know if I can love anybody."

They were silent for a long time, acutely aware of the distance between them… of the hundreds of miles and thousands of centuries of tradition and culture that drew them apart… of even their very scales.

And after an eternity and a half, Onyx broke the silence.

"…do you truly believe that there's something wrong with that?"

Snowfall looked up, eyes still shimmering with tears. "O-Onyx, I'm a freak-"

"You," Onyx squeezed the girl's hand, "are a lot of things. Beautiful. Powerful. Intelligent. But you're not a freak."

Snowfall's lips moved like a guppy, but no sound came out.

And then she broke down crying.

And Onyx held her close.

"Snowfall," she whispered gently, "if I can't be strong for myself right now… I can at least be strong for you."

…

…

There was silence.

Both dragons gazed contemplatively into the fire; spitting sparks as it consumed yet more kindling. It had already consumed the wood towards the edges of the fireplace, leaving nothing but lightly glowing embers.

They both saw different things in the hearth; one saw warmth, the other saw a pyre.

Snowfall spoke when she was sure her voice wouldn't hiccup, swallowing in an attempt to remove the last vestiges of her grief. "I- I'll be strong for you too. I p-" she paused, breathing. "-I promise."

Her face was turned towards the ground, the firelight flickering against her cheeks and glinting off the silvery droplets that still clung to her eyelashes.

So Onyx echoed the words Snowfall had said to her what felt like a lifetime ago…

"Keep your head high, princess. Your tiara is drooping."

Snowfall laughed.

It was low, ungraceful, almost a snort.

And Onyx couldn't have wished for anything more.

The sound died into the night, swallowed up by the thick books and imposing walls and the snowstorm still raging outside. Onyx wanted to replace it, to say _anything_ to stop the oppressive silence from closing in again.

But then Snowfall hesitated.

For a second, it seemed like she wouldn't speak.

"I'm scared." she admitted finally, still not making eye contact. "Some part of me is glad that I said what I did, and then the other…"

Onyx pursed her lips, wondering what to say next. "And that's fine. It's _fine_ to be scared. I'm… _terrified,_ like, if you just… left…"

She trailed off, and Snowfall sighed.

"The important bit is that we're here for each other. Forever."

"…and what if one day we're not?"

The question hung in the air for a solid second before Onyx responded.

"Then… we'll just have to deal with it. I've learned that now… from you."

Snowfall gripped her hands tighter, and the cool scales imbibed a certain sense of comfort in Onyx.

"We can't live our lives dependent on the ones we care for. It's just… easier with them, I suppose."

"…so where does that leave the two of us?"

Onyx kissed her.

It was soft and tender and mild and sweet and exhilarating and all those other words…

And Snowfall still drew back, hesitant and a bit sheepish.

"…I'm not sure how I feel about that." she whispered. "Sorry."

But Onyx simply smiled.

"Why are you apologising?"

"Dunno."

Snowfall smiled lightly, and Onyx could almost see the weight of the sky lifting from her shoulders. Granted, she would soon be weighed down again; but for now, it felt like she had taken flight.

"Felt like the right thing to do." she continued, snuggling against the Sandwing without really paying attention to what she was saying. "You can kiss me anywhere else, if you want."

Onyx giggled. "Phrasing, Snowfall."

"Wha-" Snowfall realised what she had said. "Haha, real funny." she grumbled.

"Anyways," Onyx continued, "That leaves us two broken people, leaning on each other until we can walk again."

Slowly, as though testing the waters, her lips pressed tenderly against Snowfall's forehead. "And when we can finally walk, we'll run into the sunset. Together."

A beat.

Then Snowfall began softly giggling.

"That's really corny of you."

"I learned from the best." Another kiss, this time right on her nose.

Snowfall was openly laughing, hugging Onyx tightly as though she wanted to root herself in the moment, to _believe_ that her friend was there for her, and that they had made it through this together.

She pressed her cheek against her friend's, laughing openly as she did so. "I guess I _am_ rubbing off on you, then. Now flip the page over. You stopped on a cliffhanger."

"The book doesn't _have_ cliffhangers, Snowfall."

"Well, I simply must know what happens next _post-haste."_ Snowfall raised her arm, index finger up. "Presto, Onyx!"

Onyx laughed, skimmed the rest of the page, and turned it over.

…

They didn't dramatically kiss.

They didn't fall together like it had been destined by the stars, as though they couldn't live without feeling the other's skin against theirs, breath rasping through their battered throats.

But when Onyx's eyes finally began to droop, she set aside the book comfortable in the knowledge that Snowfall… _her_ Snowfall… was but an arm's length away.

And Snowfall went to sleep lightly grasping Onyx's talon… aware that she would be there the next morning… and the one after that, and the one after that.

Joy is a fickle thing… not often found in tandem with constancy.

But that night, two friends found both in the other's arms.

 **Dakota**

 **-** _ **Tiny Moving Parts**_


End file.
